Gardeners are a strange lot, I know. Sometimes the littlest things get us so excited.
And I am no different.
Before leaving our home in Montana I spent some time digging up many of my bulb plants with the intention of replanting them at our new home by the sea in the spring.
There was a variety of colors and types but many were lilies.
I placed them in a burlap bag with sawdust as filler to keep them safe. They seemed to rest comfortably in the bag as we did all our travels and they spent the 'winter' inside the bag in the shop to be away from the new elements.
At some point this early spring I placed them in the bag into a half whiskey barrel that was out in the yard. I covered the barrel with a tarp to keep all the rain water out until it was time to plant all the bulbs.
A few days ago I decided that it was time to cut open the burlap bag to find some bulbs to set into the flower bed.
As I lifted the tarp from the barrel I was so shocked to see that the whiskey barrel was completely filled with rain water. Apparently I had used a tarp that had small holes in it that I hadn't spotted earlier.
I didn't get a photo of the drowned bulb sack..I was just to upset about the whole thing.
I did turn the barrel on it's side to drain out all the water so I could dispose of the ruined bulbs and sack. It took several days of sun and a light breeze to dry out everything.
As I picked up the bag to place it in the garbage can the bottom of the bag fell out of it. So I shook out the rest of the contents into the barrel and decided I would spread it on the garden to be worked in when we tilled it.
This is what the contents of my bulb bag looked like after it was removed from the burlap bag...
Of course I was heart broken to see that nothing had survived this terrible incident of all that rain water.
As I place my hands into the mixture to prepare it for the garden I felt something against my fingers. I gently pulled and to my joy and amazement I brought up a plant!
I was so surprised and excited to see that something had actually survived a near drowning in the whiskey barrel.
Of course I have great hopes that is survivor could be one of my precious Tiger Lilies.
I carefully placed my little treasure into a pot and placed it back in the shop to protect it from the rain and cold evenings we are having for a few days.
We have named this little plant "Miracle" because it has to be one considering everything this little plant has been through.
I am hoping that this plant will be one of my Tiger Lilies because I have had this plant since I planted a seed in 1985 in my garden. I had dug it up and replanted it every where I have lived ever since.
But considering the journey this little bulb has made, I will welcome any Lily into the garden and tend it well. And hopefully she will stay with us for many years to come.
I will post a photo of "Miracle" the moment she shows her true 'colors' to us!
Oh my, A miracle has happened in my garden!
