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Both of my boys love to trade war stories of working in the yard and flowerbeds when they were young. To have them tell it they worked so hard while the other neighborhood children never had chores to do. I think they secretly enjoy teasing me, but you can imagine my delight when my youngest ungrudgingly went to the nursery with me, helped me shop, and planted my newest tree selection without even the slightest grumble.

My new tree stands proudly in the edge of the back yard where Ryan planted her. In my mind’s eye, I can see her beautiful lacy branches providing shelter for the twittering birds that will make their nests there. Although my Carolina Sapphire Arizona Cyprus is relatively small now she is a fast grower. I’m sure she will soon grow into her name!

I looked up what information I could find on this species of Cyprus and determined that the space I had to fill would be a perfect match for this lovely tree. I have found that to be key in planting trees and shrubs. All it takes is a quick look around to find that many have been planted in the wrong spot. Some absolutely gorgeous trees outgrow their area. They were planted too close to a house or other structure and either must be pruned sharply and often, or cut down all together.

Others don’t ever reach the potential in their DNA for beauty, producing fruit, or shade because they have been planted in conditions that don’t suit them. Many things must be considered such as the type of soil, amount of sunlight, or the amount of freezing temperatures they can withstand.

I suppose people get excited and plant what they assume will be a great addition to the landscape without doing due diligence. I do research on gardening websites, watch YouTube videos, and talk to other gardeners. But even with my best efforts to plant in the correct soil with the correct conditions I occasionally have to move plants around until I find the place where my plants thrive, and even then I sometimes wind up losing them.

Even though I love gardening and work hard at my hobby I don’t get it right all the time. Isn’t that the way life is? Sometimes we really try our best and still wind up making an error in judgment. I’m glad that our errors don’t define us. Of course, each day we have a choice to look at the times we missed the mark and dwell on our mistakes, or we can just pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and try again.

Yes, sometimes our plants or our plans just won’t bloom seemingly no matter what we try, But there are other times when a scraggly, ugly plant hangs in and holds on. Then one day when we least expect it that bad boy bursts into full bloom! That’s a good reason to keep on trying no matter what!

Jan Penton Miller can be reached at lilsisjan@yahoo.com.