blooms from beyond

magic blooms all around us all of the time. I started going to the Broad Ripple Farmers Market maybe 10 years ago w my dad. he has his favorite farmers, one of his most favorite was Liz of Earthly Delights. (swipe left to see her 🥰). she always had a twinkle in her eye and she and my dad loved to chat up. she would gift him her soups & pies. we bought her fruits & veggies for our restaurant; her fresh berries a feature on our Sunday buffet. but the thing I loved most to buy from her were her cockscomb flowers. I’d never seen them before. they are so extraordinarily unusual and vibrant. hers always so grand in size 🌺every year I’d buy her cockscomb and every year she’d tell me how to handle them and every year she’d tell me about the seeds. “don’t put too much water in the vase. they last forever inside and when you’re ready, hang them upside down to dry.” I hang mine upside down on our front door bec they are just so simply captivating. she told me how to capture the abundant seeds. I’m not much for these kinds of details and have a deep gratitude & appreciation for all the loving wise tenders & stewards of our planet who do. but last year,  when I took the cockscomb down from our door, I took the flowers & sprinkled their tiny black seeds in the garden beds in front of our house murmuring words of gratitude for Liz & the seeds. a wish & a prayer. I did nothing more to tend to them. Liz had been battling cancer the last couple of years. Dad and I got to see her this year and she was not doing well. she was always such a strong rascally woman and now she was in a lot of pain yet still farming & working her booth. she told us she was having more tests & treatments. that was the last time we saw her. she passed away a few weeks later earlier this summer. two weeks ago I noticed these little baby cockscomb blooming in the garden by our front door, spooning our Buddha. I sprinkled those seeds far & wide thinking they could have our whole front yard if they wanted, yet this year, Liz’s seeds bloomed here. those vibrant fuscia red baby blooms bursting up & hugging our Buddha … Liz’s spirit twinkling & blessing our garden. #lifegoeson #bloomsfrombeyond #earthlydelights #thankyou