It’s not like I had never seen them before. Infact, I drove by the old, tattered house almost daily. Once, I even received a few bulbs from the elderly couple who lived there. But that was six years ago.
A lot had changed……
I watched the couple grow old and the house grow silent.
I watched as weeds choked the sweet garden that once housed the beautiful bulbs.
I watched the rain stop and the sun scorch the earth.
I watched the flowers go dormant, and then disappear. It was atleast 4 years since i saw any signs of life.
But then, it rained……….a nice good long soaking rain. A drought ending rain. The yellow flowers came back. One would have to look very carefully to see them. After years of neglect, stickery weeds engulfed the garden plot.
Sternbergia is a beautiful vivid yellow bulb that blooms in the fall. In Texas, we like to call them ‘fall crocus’.
“I see you” I said to myself smiling, and did a quick U-turn while driving by. Within 5 minutes, I had met the new tenants, found out they didn’t care for the bulbs and i began to dig up the remaining Sternbergia and Oxbloods. These bulbs were planted by a couple whose ancestry came from Germany. Many of the bulbs in this region come ftom the original German stock, being treasured by immigrants during the 1800’s. I dug that day, battling the thorns with flip flops and bare hands………somehow feeling like I had saved something worthy.
I know that the remembrance of the elderly German couple, through some old yellow bulbs, is pure treasure to me.