This sentinel oak is an old friend that grows near the road where I walk and drive by each day. I'll never forget the first time I saw the baby blue eyes that beautify a spot beneath that oak. I was still half flatlander, and with permission of the owner of the property, I dug a plug from that spot to spread those baby blue eyes onto my own property. Un huh! It doesn't work that way. The master gardeners and naturalists that tell you: 'don't try to transplant wildflowers because they fail,' were right, of course. I tried several different wildflowers over those first few years. None took. I'm an avid environmentalist now, and recognize it as a transgression to move wild plants.But then...as though to punish me for my transgression, the baby blue eyes didn't bloom the following spring, and another. Over the 31 years I've watched that spot, they continue to bloom, off and on, always glorious and welcoming when they do.
When they didn't show for several years in a row, my daughter Virginia, then 10 years old, lamented their passing. She worried about the baby blues and shooting stars in our pasture that also fail to bloom prolifically every year. Nature has its own plan. Enjoy what you can. Come up for a wildflower day in the motherlode and you won't regret it. Poppies, popcorn flowers, lupines, mustard, fruit trees, and more. The blooms this year are spectacular. Don't miss them.
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