Behind My Back

It felt like it all happened behind my back.  Oh, sure.  All the hints were there.  A spike reaching elegant and tall to the spring sun.  Little tips ready to blush for the season.  Yes, the signs were plentiful and my hopes were high.

And then life got in the way.  Life in the form of a trip away from the yard and out of range of Mother Nature.  Upon returning, all that had been merely a soft hint was now there in full glory. 

This lovely gift is from an aloe that sits at the edge of the patio.  

Words can not express my gratitude for the color play.  The older blooms appear like miniscule bananas so bright is the color and softly hanging in a clump.  Those yet to open wander off into green tints that look nothing like the first to blossom.

Another plant had offered a glimpse into glory, but only a hint.  And, as these things so often take place, as soon as I was gone, the full beauty erupted.

And over in the corner, in view of my knitting spot, is this jade.  Jade - - much of the year this is actually a jade colored plant.  But when the warm power of the sun says "wake up sleepy head" this one puts on her lipstick and adds a lovely blush all over.

We have grown jade for many a year and this sturdy tolerant plant always delights me.   I am continually baffled that his succulent grows equally well in this southern California desert as it does when I first encountered it as a patio plant in Louisiana.    

My words fail.  I shall quote another more eloquent that me:

Let us a little permit Nature to take her own way; she better understands her own affairs than we.  ~Michel de Montaigne, translated