After my morning walk I decided to go out in my back yard to tend to a few items in my little garden.. There’s not much to it anymore, really.. just a few geraniums, my hydrangea bushes, and a few other perennial plants who have seen better days. I recently added a couple of mum plants to balance things out and bring a little bit of autumn bloom to the mix. My hydrangea blooms, once lively bright hues of blue and pink, have turned color. They’ve gradually changed and are now lovely shades of muted burgundy and green. They still shine beautifully in my little garden.. big, bountiful blooms that now fit in so well with the changing color of leaves on the trees around them. It is a pretty scene, especially in the glow of this morning’s sunshine. And those flowers that are still blooming have all seemed to fit quite nicely into the late September scheme of things in the garden. But this morning, a new bloom made itself quite apparent… Near the very bottom of one of the hydrangea plants, a new, bright lavender colored blossom shone sweetly in the morning sunshine. It was small, but stood out among the rest of the blooms. It was bright.. and really quite beautiful.. and looked very proud of itself as it showed off its very newly bloomed petals there in that late summer garden. Now, what do we make of a new bright purple blossom that pops out all of a sudden, blooming so late in the game and showing itself off in the midst of all the other older established blooms that have been hanging out on this bush for so long? Surely, it doesn’t really fit in with the color scheme that has taken over.. and I really did love that soft, subdued look of the late summer garden. That bright purple color.. it was rather out of place! I must say, however, that its presence made me smile a little. Such an unexpected little surprise, just waiting to be noticed!  Who was I to tell this little purple blossom that it was a bit of a late bloomer or that it didn’t really quite fit in with the rest of the blooms on its bush? Who was I to tell it that its “time” had passed? No.. I certainly couldn’t do that.. It was just THIS little purple blossom’s time to burst out and show itself to the world! It was THIS little blossom’s time to be what it was always meant to be.. a beautiful flower! And if it wanted to hang out in my garden and keep on showing its beautiful little self well into November, it would be just fine with me! Is there really a certain “right” time for any thing or any one to bloom? Does it really matter if we don’t quite fit into the scheme of things? Perhaps there are some flowers who are just meant to be late bloomers or who are just not meant to fit into everything that is going on around them. There are those who are on a different time schedule and who will choose to show their true colors whenever they are ready.. for as long as they please. So, little purple flower.. I’m happy that you’re here!  You are unique and beautiful and you have added new life and new joy to this little garden.  Please stay for awhile and grace my world with your presence.

~ Carole Carter – words and photograph