“A weed is no more than a flower in disguise, which is seen through at once, if love give a man eyes.”
- James Russell Lowell
In May a strange looking plant appeared in a section of my garden. I watched it closely with anticipation, hoping it was some exotic flower deposited by a bird or the wind. Last week it finally bloomed. It resembled a cone flower in size, and possessed a quality not unlike a daisy. Curious about the name, I looked it up in every garden dictionary but I was unable to put a name to it. Two days after it bloomed, I figured it out when the beautiful flower I had admired turned into a large, fluffy puff ball. My exotic flower was a weed! I was ready to give it a good yank when I realized that this weed brought joy and excitement to an otherwise predictable blooming spot in my garden. And so, that is why I left it to grow there, among my other flowers, reminding me to appreciate even the occasional weed thrown into life’s garden.
The Garden Saints
St. Fiacre (7th Cent. - Aug. 31/Sept. 1) is recognized as the patron saint of gardeners, florists, and cab drivers. Often mistaken for St. Francis of Assisi, he is pictured with a shovel, and stands as a sentinel over the flowers and crops that he guards. Raised in a monastery, he became a skillful user of medicinal herbs and as his talents became known, people flocked to him for healing. After his death in 670 A.D., visitors to the monastery claimed it had healing powers. A shrine in Breuil, France was erected in his honor, making it a destination spot for pilgrims.
