Rising above it all

I can not tell you just what this plant is called. I can tell you that I have called it many things-most not very nice. My grandmother planted this ground cover and it must have been quite fashionable as I see it in most of the gardens in this area.

When I moved into my home and restored my grandmother's gardens I decided that I did not like this plant. I have spent 12 years digging it up and cursing it's persistence. This year my friend Susan has taught me a different way.

Susan is a magical preschool teacher. Her gardens are wise and wild and have a rhythm all their own. As I walked down the path to her preschool the other day, I noticed that they were full of my grandmother's groundcover! I asked her if she was worried that they would choke out the other plants and she replied that she had been, but that in the end the plants had grown around each other and found their own way.

This year I am looking at my plantings differently. Instead of pulling up the ground cover I am embracing it. I watch as it winds its way around the tulips and daffodils. I marvel as it moves around the lilies and how the other spring plants seem to rise above it.

And so it is that my grandmother's gardens (and my friend Susan) have taught me yet another set of lessons: to look for beauty in all things, to embrace all that comes my way, to trust that there is a rhythm to all things and to know that no matter what happens wonder and delight will rise above it all.