Small details matter

One of my garden tasks recently was supporting this very tall sunflower plant. It was about 20 inches tall a couple months ago, had flopped over and was almost touching the ground. I wrapped a little green gardening tape around it along with a little stick to support it (wishing now I’d snapped a photo.) And I prayed a few words to the Designer of that sunflower plant, that it would not lose heart but keep growing.

The stalk kept growing and growing – a regular Jack and the Beanstock, a.k.a. Sunflower plant.

A couple weeks later the sunflower heads were overpowering the stalk, the little stick was ineffective. I wanted to help this plant to its next stage of glory.

I walked into the woods back of our house to find a fallen tree-pole the height of the sunflower stalk, about 2 inches in diameter; cleaned off the little spiky branches to make it easier to handle. I filled a bucket with water, started soaking the soil (almost hard as cement) around the base of the stalk , and used a garden fork to loosen the soil and pull out the stalk. As good fortune would have it, a fair-sized rock had been down by the roots which I used as extra ballast as I pushed the tree-pole, more soil and the hefty sunflower stalk into the hole.

I piled up more soil, added more water – and said another prayer.

With a little help, small things can become beautiful. A thought not limited to plants.