Lessons From a Late Spring

There's a wonderful song..."Spring Will be a Little Late this Year" (Frank Loesser)..remember Ella and Sarah singing this! A photo on the State Newspaper web shows strange red flowers growing out of tree trunks in Peachtree Rock Preserve. The writer notes that lichens and moss are at record levels this Spring, due to the long,wet,dark and cold winter we experienced. Now imagine my surprise to see this attraction right in my own yard. I have a wonderful rock that my mother picked up in Colorado...she was spotted stealing rocks in all the Western states....and it has a wonderful small hole in it that fills with water, making a great water attraction for the birds. It usually has a small coat of moss. This morning I noticed it was dark green all over, with the heaviest coat in years. The blazing sun on the past few days will take its toll, but for now it is such a beauty spot.I have been fascinated with my squirrels, who have spent days digging up all the nuts they buried last Fall. I made a prediction then that this would be a cold winter, and it proved right. How do they know where they are? All I know is that I don't have to wear those strange shoes with small nails protruding to aerate my lawn!! The squirrels have done it for me.

Which brings up the point that perhaps we do not pay enough attention to Mother Nature. She is trying to tell us things of great importance, but we are deaf in our worldly pursuits. While teaching at USC I was always aware of the beauty of our campus, a real refuge in a busy city, and filled with rare plants from our state and beyond. I would often talk to the gardeners, especially in the earlier days when many of them were still around after long years of working there. I remember the transplanting of the camellias from the yard of a well known professor. There were many rare examples, and I cringed at the thought of their survival, as camellias are loathed to be moved. They moved them, a huge task, to the front of the Administration Building, and then pruned them down to almost the ground. They struggled for years, but slowly regained their strength, and now they are fabulous, especially this Spring, which saw the most amaizing display of camellias in years.

If you walk around to the front of the McKissick Museum, you will note a large magnolia on the right side of the steps. Years ago...in the late 1960's, a Midnight Raid by Clemson before THE GAME made mincemeat of this tree. They tried to cut it down, but botched the job. One of the gardeners took what was left and nursed it back to health. It now has several trunks, and if you know the magnolia tree, that is very unusual. Everytime I look at it I remember the story in The Gamecock, and how offended the whole campus was.

So what is Mother Nature trying to say! I think it is obvious..."Take note and take care of me, and I will reward you with many lessons that will enrich your lives."