The Master Gardener

Is this an exotic Orchid?

A prized Hybrid Rose?

A Blue Ribbon-winning Daisy?

A rare, lacy flower grown in an English garden?

The answer to all of those questions is, of course, "No."

The "exotic Orchid" is a Honeysuckle blossom, which can be found in abundance this time of year growing along rural fence rows and ditches ...

I found the "prized Rose" growing on the side of a country road near Vicksburg, its tangled vines climbing high up into the trees overhead ...

I was delighted with such colorful lagniappe, and braved the tall grass, ant beds, and briars to capture the beautiful little clusters of roses up close.

The "Blue Ribbon Daisy" was in the midst of this little clump of wild daisies growing around a bend and down the road from the wild roses ...

And that lacy flower wasn't growing in a fancy English garden. It, too, was on the side of the road, towering above a patch of red clover ...

This time of year, most gardens are at their loveliest, carefully tended by flower and plant lovers all over the world ... but none of them, no matter how grand and lush, can hold a candle to God's gardens. He is truly the Master Gardener of all time — and His gardens are open year-round, 24/7, and there's no charge for the tours. I hope you will visit one near you soon.

Fields of Lavender

Interstate 20, between Vicksburg and Jackson, is lined with cotton, corn, and soybean fields. My husband and I had to make several trips to Jackson this week, and one of those fields kept calling my name. It was just begging to have its picture taken, and I couldn't resist taking my camera along on our trip yesterday.

That particular field called my name last Fall, too, when it looked like this ...

But yesterday — oh, my goodness — it was a glorious meadow of beautiful lavender wildflowers!

I wished for a blue sky for a background, but even with the cloudy skies yesterday, the field was truly breathtaking.

The flowers are a member of the mint family, and are called Henbit.

A winter annual that blooms in the spring, Henbit is found throughout the United States. It's probably not very popular when it's growing in your grass or cotton fields, but, after seeing these pictures, perhaps the next time you see some on the side of the road, you will remember these exquisite little flowers hidden amongst all those purple "weeds."

I'm so glad I stopped to capture them while they were at their peak, because all up and down the highway, farmers are hard at work preparing their fields for planting — and my "field of lavender" will soon look like this ...