Always Look Under the Juniper

This is not really a sewing blog today, but I have been spending more time in the yard than the sewing studio, so I will tell the story of a tiny plant I found about 18 years ago under a big, prickly juniper. There may be a sewing application in here some where; we will see.

It was a neglected yard, alongside a tired, older house, with only a hint of a long ago garden. Some departed occupant had decided to simplify the yard by planting junipers in the garden space.

A juniper is a very prickly evergreen shrub. Very prickly. Good for keeping people away from your yard, and low maintenance. But not what I would call aesthetically pleasing, and if not pruned a juniper becomes an angry, barbed blight. They also tend to dry out underneath as the long, sharp limbs spread unchecked. You can prune these into fanciful shapes if you are so inclined. But these had reached the point where removal was really the only option.

I cut off as much of the barbed limbs as I could, wearing long sleeves and thick gloves. Later, a relative would be helping to pull the stumps out with a trunk and winch. The wood is very hard and tough going.

As I was removing the limbs with large pruners, I spied a little plant. A little plant with leaves that always remind me of a shamrock; Columbine leaves.

I was so excited by this discovery amist my dirty, dry, stickery task. The Columbine was only a few inches high. I carefully dug her up, found a pot, tucked her in, and watered her.

I wondered at how this little plant came to grow under the large and suffocating juniper. How long had she been there? Years? Hidden from sunlight and deprived of water? I marveled at her survival skills. The first year, she grew steadily.

The next year, we moved, the Columbine came with us, and was planted in the ground. She shot up flowered! Yes, she flowered! I saved her seeds and sprinkled them around and was rewarded the folowing year with many Columbine.

Now it has been two more moves and these years later. I have carried her seeds with me each time. I scatter them in the dryest, sunniest and darkest corners of my garden, where plants do not want to grow. Her great, great, great, geat, great (etc, etc) granddaughters will always grow and thrive whereever planted.

When she first bloomed, I was surprised at the small and delicate flowers and lush foliage. Garden shop Columbine have big flowers and little foliage. Her tiny flowers were such perfection, that I was quickly won over.

Modern, hybridized Columbine come in brighter colors with larger blooms. They don’t grow as tall…nice and compact for an orderly garden. But I prefer my vintage variety. They bloom earlier, have lots of blooms per plant, last longer, and they are wonderful company.

I have lots of other flowers in my current garden…violas, wild violets, many Rhododendron, lavenders, lupine, iris and more…but I still experience the same joy each spring in seeing this Columbine that has accompanied me through so many life events bloom. (Got a tissue? It makes me a bit teery-eyed.)

How does this relate to quilting? Well, I think we all have little treasures buried in our fabric stash. Forgotten, neglected, sometimes for decades. We take them out, refold them and put them away for “someday”. At my age, those somedays are much fewer and we need to bring these little gems out into the world. Here are two such treasures that I put away when I received them, only to reimagine them into life decades later.

Look under the Juniper, see what you find, encourage it to flourish! Or be the Columbine and persist. She persisted.

Happy gardening and quilting!

Lennea