You wild thing you

A week ago I found some large packets of wildflower seeds at our local dollar store. I couldn't resist buying a couple, actually it was three packages. For the last few years I haven't had much luck getting anything newly planted to grow. I did have an abundance of apples last year, but no flowers to speak of. This time I  actually saw the flowers, pictured on the front of the packets, blooming in my front yard.

It reminded me of when I moved from California to the Laguna Indian Reservation in New Mexico in 1976. Our brand new double wide mobile home was placed on a back section of property owned by my in-laws. One of the first things we did was bring in some sod, giving us a small grassy area in front of the house. It was nice, but not to my satisfaction. I was used to flower gardens, not plain old dirt everywhere. We planted several rose bushes which helped, but it was still not enough color for my taste.

The next summer I planted wildflower seeds. They took off and from then on they reseeded themselves every year. I finally had what I had been missing since moving to New Mexico- color!

In 1980 we moved the house to a piece of property 100' x 200' just outside of Grants, NM. Here we go again- not a thing on the land except dirt, weeds and sage brush. Again our first move was to plant sod for a front yard. Then we gradually purchased shrubs and fruit trees. We also transplanted the rose bushes and lilacs we had in Laguna and things began to shape up with a lot of effort on our part.

Having pretty much lived in apartments all of my life I was thrilled to finally have a house and land that was mine. Of course, the first thing I did outside was to plant more wildflower seeds, because I knew they would grow when nothing else would. Over the years I went on to plant other varieties of flowering plants, but I have always favored wildflowers. They seem to have a mind of their own and require little care other than water and sun. That's my kind of plant.

The last few years I just haven't been in the mood to plant or nurture anything and things have gradually died out. Perhaps this spring it's time to start over with a new attitude and faith that the seeds I planted last week will have a mind of their own to grow and give my yard and my life the color it has been missing.