Up early on Saturday morning, enjoying the peace and quiet, looking out my patio door, I see my"kid garden" along the patio edge, full of gifts of various flowers over the years. I'm always amazed at how these flowers always seem to thrive. This lily is one of my favorites, I must admit. The first year, it was a gangly, spindly plant that didn't look as if it would survive the ride home from school. But I planted it alongside the other mismatched flowers that I've planted over the years, gifts from students, plants that didn't fit somewhere else in my 'grand scheme' of gardening. These plants hold a place of honor edging the patio, instead of tucked away hidden where no one might notice them.

Over the years, this lily has managed to survive. It is no longer gangly . Instead it is a glorious bush of blossoms - 18 open this morning, with many more buds waiting for their turn to shine.

My lily is like a middle school kid.....

they come to us, a little mishapen, a little gangly, not all that gorgeous on the outside at times...

but filled with potential...

just waiting to be planted in a place of honor....

wanting and needing to be tended and cared for over the years....

until they bloom magnificently into adulthood......

Thank you all my middle schoolers who have given me plants over the years. I've enjoyed watching the plants grow and mature and blossom, just as I've enjoyed watching you do the same.