I have long believed in dreams that come true. My vivid imagination dates back to childhood when I preferred my imaginary life to my reality.
I began to imagine myself living back in the South about 15 years ago. My first move to making this my reality was to subscribe to Southern Living Magazine. I browsed through the pages imagining myself living among trees draped with Spanish moss and yards overflowing with azaleas and caladium.
Caladium, otherwise known as Angel Wings, Heart of Jesus and Elephant Ears, represented the South to me with their varigated leaves in so many beautiful colors.
My dreams came true and I now grow caladium in my own yard. They never cease to give me pleasure. Seeing their little tips begin to rise up out of the earth each year, having survived another winter, brings a smile to my face.
I pick up a couple of bags of bulbs each year, planting them here and there. They are lovely in containers, in a garden grouping or planted in multitude at the corner of a garden.
My love affair with the South continues as late summer settles in here on St. Simons Island. Afternoon showers leave a steamy haze through which I envision the leaves that will soon be changing then falling. The caladium will wither back to take a winter nap, only to rise again with the onset of another summer. I learn from my garden. Most of all, it reminds me that there will always be renewal, new growth and beauty. In nature I find the rhythm of life with the flowers and plants that bloom in their own time. The flow of life…..gentle, quiet and always a work in progress.
