[Snapshots from Oak Ridge] It Bloomed After All

I’m starting a simple Friday tradition of posting a snapshot from the environment in which I write here on Oak Ridge Lane. This idea came because, as I sit outside on my bench writing, I find myself wishing I could share the sunlit beauty of my garden. Of course, what is possible in June will not be possible in January, so I will no doubt post snapshots of things other than pretty garden blooms. Let’s see where this takes us….

Just a few weeks ago, I was convinced this spirea shrub wasn’t going to bloom. Noticing that the more common white spirea in neighbors’ gardens were loaded with blooms in late May, I looked at my pink spirea, saw plenty of leaves but no blooms—not even buds—and figured the deer had eaten the buds off. This is not without precedent in my garden. Last year, none of my pink and white phlox ever bloomed because the deer nibbled off all the buds. So I resigned myself to missing out this year on the spirea’s delicate pink blossoms, which are nearly always abuzz with happy bumble bees. Then last week, lo and behold, blooms! I had simply forgotten that the pink variety of spirea blooms later than the white. I’m sure there’s a lesson in there somewhere, about not giving up hope, about optimism, about looking up relevant garden facts rather than relying on my memory. I’m just happy to be wrong about the deer.