First came the pear trees, then the plum trees, followed by the apple trees and now the lilacs shrubs. Our valley is in full bloom! How wonderful it is for us that nature is so persistent. Now is the time we get to tend to our own outdoor gardens by preparing and amending the soil, getting the water down deep, sowing our seeds and then spending the season being constant caregivers. It takes the greatest quality of persistence to reap the benefits of our efforts.

When we are not persistent, our gardens and landscapes do not thrive.

When you consider your own life garden areas, how persistent are you with nurturing and growing your relationships, your health, your finances, your contributions and all the other areas of your life? How would your life be different by stepping into more persistence in your life? If you aren’t being persistent, why not?

Awareness of where we are now and where we want to be is really the key. We plant our vegetable gardens, landscapes and pots with a certain outcome in mind and then, with persistent actions, we will reap the harvest.

This is the season, to nurture more persistence in your life.

Often I get asked about my love affair with gardening. I suppose it all started with helping my Mum when I was a child. In the Spring we would carefully carve out small trenches with our trowels in the garden behind the barn. One by one, I would place the seeds into their rightful place. It seemed impossible to understand how these little seeds could grow into beans, peas and carrots. Every year I would ask the “how” question and every year she would respond by saying, “All it takes is love, mixed with patience with a dash of magic”.

Elizabeth Shopland is a personal growth and development coach, a certified horticulturist, and the co-owner of Shopland Grow & Bloom. She can be reached at eshopland@telus.net and 250-342-8978.