Friends,

Every spring, the Horticultural Society at River Farm hosts a native plant sale. The first of these that I experienced came at a perfect moment to have a disproportionate effect on my life. We had not been living in Alexandria very long, and I was coming to terms with the fact that my yard is less than ideal for tomatoes, which was my plant of choice before our move. With all of the chatter about local plants, a war I was beginning to wage on the wisteria that was killing our trees, and a desire to grow something fun, I was interested to see what I could learn and get from the native plant sale, just a few blocks away from our home. The biggest variable that drove me to the sale was my two year old son’s recent procurement of a riding electric John Deere tractor complete with a trailer. The weather was terrible that morning, and a long line of cars began to form to grab the few spaces that were not giant puddles, and I could not resist the temptation to have my son drive past them all on his tractor to load up that tiny trailer with whatever plants we could find. It was hilarious.

On that tiny trailer, towed behind that tiny tractor with a tiny diver in Carhartts, we fit a serviceberry tree and a random assortment of native perennial flowers. I was informed of a number of resources that would help me plan my garden depending on soil type and sun exposure. We ignored these wise suggestions, and essentially played in the dirt putting flowers where we felt compelled. The serviceberry tree isn’t doing well, because a ground hog keeps chewing on it, but everything else is thriving, and despite our best efforts, actually looks planned. The flowers now host dozens of blossoms, and watching them bloom at different times throughout the summer has been a highlight. Regardless of when I go to visit the flower bed, I can count on being surprised by a new bloom showing off its color and bees enjoying their hidden nectar. The flower bed with its ever-growing variety of native flowers is my happy place, and all of a sudden, because of the native plant sale, I am turning into one of those plant obsessed people.

The flower I am most excited to see bloom are the Jerusalem Artichokes, which are sometimes called sunchokes. This is the only one I have actually researched and did not just buy on a whim. They are essentially perennial sunflowers with edible tubers, and they bloom in late August or early September. They are impossible to kill, native to Virginia, can compete with non-native invasive plants, pollinators love them, and soon my back yard will be full of their yellow flowers for the first time. If you are interested in seeing these remarkable plants, you can also visit the playground at St. Luke’s, because Molly French and Girl Scout Troop 53078 cleared out a neglected part of our properly along the playground fence and planted dozens of them and they are massive. Molly and her cohorts put forth a ton of effort to not only make our space at Church look cared for, but to make it meaningful. For me, the Jerusalem Artichokes are meaningful in themselves, but the fact that Molly put forth this effort makes all the difference. We could have paid for someone to do that work, but as long as those plants come up every year they will continue to be reminders that Molly cared enough to make our Church more beautiful, meaningful and full of life.

Jesus uses agriculture to teach people about the Kingdom of God throughout the Gospels. It’s what people knew, and we have lost a lot of that knowledge. Since I have discovered the joy of watching things grow, and am surprised by my own excitement to see the Jerusalem artichoke flowers bloom in a few weeks, I cannot help but consider the things that I simply do not get in the Gospel. The tricky thing about things we do not get is that we don’t know that we don’t get them. Surely, there is a whole host of nuance, meaning and even humor that goes above our heads, because we do not live in an ancient agricultural society.

Since I became a plant person I cannot help but see scripture in a new light when Jesus talks about the weeds, chaff, or other unwanted plant material being thrown into the unquenchable fire. It’s violent imagery, but it makes a bit more sense after I spent hours trying to kill the wisteria and other non-natives that choked everything else out. In order to create a space for life to thrive, I couldn’t just leave it alone and adopt a live and let live mentality. We do not live in a world where these plants restrain themselves, any more than we live in a world without sin and other social vices. Allowing life to thrive sometimes takes intervention and pulling up nasty things by the roots and throwing them into the fire to bring the bees back. On the other hand, neglect, in appropriate doses, is required for things to grow. Flowers, trees or anything else won’t grow just by fretting over them, and they’ll grow in ways you cannot plan for. In the same way the seeds in the parable of the sower needed time to grow. Each seed faced a unique challenges, and the sower can do some things, but it was ultimately up to the seed to do the miracle of growing.

These little passive thoughts I’ve had in the garden are a reminder for me that God did not simply sit by idly, and watch creation grow or not. Things were dynamic, prophets were called, Christ was born and threw over a few tables. Weeding happened, but not for the sake of vengeance or death, but so life had the chance to thrive. And, that is what we have: a chance. Not always a guarantee, but a chance to grow and thrive in the same way the flowers have grown by the playground.

Blessings,

Nick