Our latest science experiment. My 6th grader has an experiment this month. To take a cutting and put in water to grow roots... The suggested plant cutting was from a rose bush. I had been curious in the past how rose bushes came to be because I knew they were not planted from seed. I had seen educational type shows about grafting and growing a new "breed" of rose. So I did some research online about it and sure enough the suggestion was to vut about 6 inches from an existing rose bush and plant....
Of course, that peaked my interest and I couldn't just follow the directions given in the science experiment! My imagination and interest peeked we headed for the garage. Which of course led to a bit of "minor" cleaning considering it is a garage and all... found a bag of potting soil, flower pots bought for another project never done, and we went to town. In the bottom left corner, one "stick" has yellow yarn. The only cutting from our transplanted/moved yellow bush. The rest are all from one red rose bush.
This particular project took me down memory lane. Caused some thinking...
Rose bushes are hardy. Especially mine. We did some major digging and transplanting this past spring. Two of my bushes had tree roots wrapped around them. It was heart and back breaking work. I haven't been able to garden in years. But this past spring, the need for stress relief, to be outside and finally my body in a place to allow me to try and do some "old" things I used to enjoy, I set to work. I tried with all my might to rescue one of my rose bushes from the "weed" tree. A tree that should have been pulled up sooner but a weed wacker had been used to just keep it short...and the roots wrapped around my rose bush, Crying and exhausted, the phone rang and my predicament ended up being shared... I was sent inside to clean up. Dinner and a trip to the hardware store to buy a tow chain. That night I learned how to wrap a tow chain around my rose bush and hook to a truck. Out came the rose bush and tree. Then we did it a second time. The lessons my kids learned about plants, roots and problems this year. Getting to the root of the problem is important...otherwise the roots just go deeper and the situation gets worse. Rid of the tree in one spot and the other one partially pulled up and then the stump had to be poisoned/killed because of its location, I set to replanting the rose bushes.
To my delight and joy the yellow rose bush bloomed this fall. Completely unexpected. When we pulled it out, it became two bushes. Both are thriving! My red climbing rose bush is still alive. It is dormant and I am hopeful. It went through the most shock. The roots were wound and intertwined. Each time I look upon it I just take a deep breath and tell myself to wait, wait till next year. Praying. I have prayed over much of my garden and yard the last 20 years. Bushes, trees, and perennials can be quite expensive and sometimes they suffer shock. Patience and tender care with prayer, I have come to see quite a few plants recover and grow to be quite healthy and strong. With this school project, I was out and trimming back some plants, just because I already had the cutting tools out and I decided to just trim a little off my "stump" of a rose bush. Deep within what looks dead there is life. Hope.
Hope for more than just my rose bush(es) but hope for me as well. Jesus uses "gardening" a lot to teach lessons in the Bible. When I garden I can't help but reflect on the life lessons that can be gleaned from my outdoor efforts and applied to my human life. There has been significant pruning and "weed" removal in my life the last year or so. The losses have been felt and grieved and it is hard to sometimes imagine any life or beauty to come as a result. As I typed this tonight, I realized there are parts of my life being reflected in both the yellow and red rose bushes. There are areas that are blooming unexpectedly and thriving. Then there are the parts of my heart and soul that are in shock. The pain of being pulled up from the earth and having the "weed" tree removed and then being replanted and pruned way back has been brutal. There is life in there...deep down... if I keep pushing my roots down deep, deep where they need to be in God's Word, His Truth, I will recover. Establish my roots where they need to be and they will be able to support a full, healthy life that not only thrives, but blooms. I can only imagine and dream what that might look like one day.
In a month or two, I might have a follow up to whether our sticks grew roots... As for my heart and soul... that just might be what gets reflected in my writing. I don't know, only time will tell.
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