Tag: regeneration

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A Tree’s Season

All the breathtaking charm of the autumn season stops me in my tracks sometimes and fills my heart with the feel of cozy togetherness and reprioritizes my focus on the simple things. The cool breeze, the warmth of a fire, the flicker of candles flavoring the air, the cinnamon and nutmeg spiciness I add to my morning coffee, the softness of the quilts piled one, then two, then three thick on our bed to bring all the hygge comforts, and even my favorite sherpa-lined slippers for scuffing about the house and for porch sitting.

I began taking pictures of a tree on our farm in September here in rural Georgia so I could see the changes over the time span of a month or so. It’s one of my favorite views from my seat on the front porch, a place of birdwatching and reading, of talking and sipping a cup of hot tea at the end of the day, of phone conversations and FaceTimes with children and grandchildren across the miles, of prayer and meditation, of writing.

I’ve always wondered what they would say “if these trees could talk,” and perhaps in this modern age of AI, even the trees will start communicating with us and each other. If they do, this is the tree that would someday tell my story better than any other tree of my middle-age years.

Please meet my faithful friend in these photographs. She reminds me that cleaning out, renewing, and regenerating in a new and different season is a blessing and a lovely way to grow. And that every season is one to celebrate.

Thanks for reading today! I’m raising a mug of hot apple cider to you and waving my scarf in knitted kinship!

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Saving Steve

Our School Superintendent recently retired and left behind a palm plant he’s had for years. He told his assistant that he was donating it to beautify our lobby area.

The problem was that the plant wasn’t beautiful. In fact, it was hanging on by a few roots.

She came and asked me if I thought I could save it.

“I’ll give it my best shot,” I assured her. So I brought it home and named it Steve, after our retired Superintendent.

I did some Google searches and learned that the plant is an Areca Palm. It needs diffused sunlight and thrives in summer. Its dormant time is winter. It needs liquid fertilizer, a pot with good drainage, and a fair amount of coarse sand mixed in with the potting soil.

I decided to do some surgery on the plant and divide it into three pots. Two small sections would go into the new pots, and the rest would remain in the current pot with new soil and a hefty dose of root aeration.

I began trimming the plant fronds way back.

First, I cut all the fronds back to allow more energy to regenerate the roots as it grows back. Then, I shopped for Miracle Gro potting soil, some Perlite, a few Job’s Plant Sticks, some pebbles, some sand, and two new pots with good drainage holes in the bottom. I filled the base with pebbles, then added the new soil and perlite.

I mixed the potting soil and the Perlite together with some sand and placed the separated sections into each pot. Then, I stuck some Job’s plant fertilizer sticks into the root ball base of each plant before watering them.

I watered each plant and moved them all to the back porch to enjoy some diffused sunlight. Early in the week, I’ll move them indoors under the living room window at the base of the stairs, where they’ll receive diffused east-facing sunlight for a couple of weeks.

We’ll see how they do re-generating and growing, and with a little sun-kissed care, hopefully Steve can return to the district office lobby and be the beautifier he was destined to be.

We’ll think about the plans for the new set of twins and where they will live their best lives.

If you have any suggestions for names for these little transplanted palms, please share in the comments. I’ll announce their names next week.