Dianthus

These Dianthus are being show-offs right now. They’re liking the Spring warmth and the pampering we give them.

The Dianthus sit out on our back patio in 3 pots – planted a year ago in the pots from 6-pack nursery stock purchased from Lowes. Dianthus are a perennial here on the high desert. They retain some of their grayish-green leaves all winter, and even shoot out an occasional bloom stalk in the winter when there are a few days of warmth in a row. The blooms freeze and die during the cold at night – but the plants are relentless knowing Spring will arrive and blooms will survive one day soon. As the freezing nights ended with the coming of Spring the leaves thickened and lengthened, and the one-year old plants shot out all these bloom stalks several weeks ago – the blooms opened this last week.

The beauty of the flowers and other plants make the patio an inviting place. I get drawn there from the work on the computer screen more often than I should. I suppose the attraction to beauty is the way of things. We react to people in the same way. We enjoy our time and seek to be around those whose hearts are beautiful.

There is a truth to understand about self in watching the Dianthus green and bloom as Spring arrives. Beauty brings a joy and a desire to participate in the good which comes with it. It makes me think of so many Bible passages which encourage and teach about being beautiful. The passages found in places like Galatians 5 and II Peter 1 and I Corinthians 13 talk about love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, perseverance, brotherly affection, patience, refusing envy, humility, slow in being angry, finding joy in truth, trusting, protecting, and being filled with hope. Becoming beautiful like these Dianthus is a noble pursuit – worthy of thought, meditation and effort – a way of making not only a back patio, but also the neighborhood, and maybe even the world a better and more inviting place.