I suspect a daffodil along my front walk may be trying to teach me a lesson.

Growing in a most inconvenient place

I don’t know if previous homeowners purposely planted a bulb here, right where a bit of gravel fills in spaces between our walkway’s paved squares. Perhaps the bulb shifted there from somewhere nearby? But each of the three springs I have lived here, the bulb has sent up greenery and a single daffodil bloom.

It’s a persistent little thing, this daffodil, blooming in spite of its conditions.

I admire its tenacity when the dog’s tail whaps it as she walks by (almost every morning and evening) and its unwillingness to lie down or fall apart during a round of hail this past weekend. I appreciate its quiet beauty.

As for the lesson I think it’s trying to teach me? I, too, am supposed to bloom where I’m planted, even if that place is not what I expected or hoped. This necessary reminder explains why I can’t quite bring myself to cut this one particular daffodil to bring inside. It’s trying to teach me to be tough and strong, to blossom regardless of my situations and surroundings. I thought some of the rest of you might need that reminder today, as well.

While you ponder where you’re blooming, please enjoy some other flowers from my yard. Some of these grow in places that are more rock than soil. Others get way too much summer sun. But I guess all the rain we’ve had in recent months has made the flowers bloom with joy and more abundance than usual. Perhaps the rain can do the same for you and me, if we let it.

A cluster of daffodils, a little battered by hail or bugs

My home office looks out on a tulip magnolia, later to bloom this year than last, but it promises to be stunning once all the blooms come in.

Yellow bush daisy

And finally, some holdovers from winter. These camellia bushes get burned leaves in the summer because of too much afternoon sun, but all the rain of the last few months has brought out an amazing number of beautiful flowers.

Are daffodils up and blooming where you are? Do you think any of them may be trying to teach you any lessons you need to hear?