My Dear Gardeners,
Surprise! This spring brings a new home and new look for my seasonal newsletter. I am excited to join the ranks of seasoned writers on Substack, and I hope you enjoy this streamlined format.
My bi-weekly Devotions Blog, posted at www.gardeninDelight.com, will carry on as it has over the years, although I apologize for a slight service disruption during The Bride’s Garden series for Lent. You can catch up with all of this spectacular content on creating a garden from the Song of Songs at this link: The Bride’s Garden – Garden In Delight
I was delighted to learn recently that Song of Songs is a beloved book read during Passover, so its Lenten selection to grow closer to Jesus and celebrate the Resurrection holds a special connection to Jewish roots.
Speaking of new things this spring, I ended up with barley (Hordeum vulgare, a grass) and coriander (Coriandrum sativum, now flowering) in our garden side-by-side after my rather haphazard sowing of these Exodus seeds midway through winter. The Lord prompted me while preparing this newsletter to share this fresh view of Isaiah 40:8!
In other news, we marked the debut of my recent book, My Father is the Gardener, now on sale at the Museum of the Bible gift shop, with a book signing in April. It was wonderful to return to this magnificent museum and thank you to all who were able to come see me! Please pray for continued success and books sales at this monument to God’s Word – and that many more will turn to Him in this era of harvest.
Six weeks until summer! Enjoy snapshots below for lingering spring inspiration and may you keep ahead of the weeds (!)—in mind and garden beds. Blessing you to be always on the watch (Luke 21:36).
Sincerely,
Shelley S. Cramm
author & gardener
Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? Isaiah 43:18-19 The Message
From the Homeland
Field Trip to Ferry Farm, Stafford County, Virginia
Traveling this spring included a Virginia adventure following my book signing at Museum of the Bible. We visited George Washington’s Boyhood Home, Ferry Farm, near Fredericksburg, preserved by the George Washington Foundation. This replica garden relays the order and symmetry given to kitchen gardens in the Revolutionary era, and I spied a few Biblical plants emerging in the early spring of this zone 7 enclosed garden.
Dill, mint, and rue (Matthew 23:23, Luke 11:42) were filling in the beds at the north end among other mint family garden herbs, and a gnarled grapevine (John 15:1) had started leafing out against the fence on the south side. There were young apple trees (Proverbs 25:11), ready and budding, but I guess the cherry trees were all cut down, LOL!
What is now grassy, soothing riverfront was in young George’s day a bustling commercial come-and-go of barges and ferries along the Rappahannock River. We enjoyed a pleasant afternoon on the grounds of his family’s home, and had fun imagining our wise, upright first president playing and running around with his younger brothers and sister, before taking up the responsibility to run things. He helped his mother, beginning at age 11 when his father passed away.
Learn more at this link:
From the Nightstand
Spirited reading if your spring days in the garden don’t leave you too bushed!
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Jack’s Wife Freda: Cooking From New York’s West Village by Maya & Dean Jankelowitz (our new favorite restaurant near our daughter in NY, deliciousness pours out from this family’s heart…and then I tried the duck bacon, just divine!)
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In Her Garden magazine, Spring 2024 (now quarterly, available at Michael’s stores, when you want all the gorgeous photography of Instagram, but none of the anxiety)
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Gracie’s Garden by Lara Casey (a sweet, Godly garden story not just for grandchildren); Hidden Potential by Adam Grant (fascinating and insightful reading on success myths and common sense)
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Lilies for English Gardens by Gertrude Jerkyll (so happy to find this classic at Riverby Books in Fredericksburg, VA, after planting lilies in The Bride’s Garden)
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Rooted in Wonder by Eryn Lynum (a wonderful find by fellow faith-writer, who is seems to be as compelled to discover God outside as I am!)
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The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes (first published in 1630, find sage, timely reading, such as: “bruising so that reeds may know themselves to be reeds, not oaks.”)
Find more in-depth book discussions in Devotions Blog Book Reviews at Garden in Delight
From the Garden
Grow Ringo™ Rose or Rockrose from Genesis 37
Reporting in on Ringo™ Rose—remember when I wrote about this beauty from Proven Winners® about 5 years ago? It has continued to be a delight in our backyard, pictured here as a special garden-to-table star for Sunday Night Dinner.
As I relayed in my blog, “Discover a Hidden Rose,” rosebushes proper, those from the Rosa genus, are not considered Bible plants, even though Song of Songs 2:1 is usually translated, I am a rose of Sharon. This “rose,” Hebrew word chăbatstseleth, is likely referring generally to wildflowers, in this case those native to the marshy plain of Sharon, a lowland area along Israel’s Mediterranean coast.
However, if you are interested in cultivating a real “rose” of Scripture, look into Cistus salviifolius, rockrose. Rockrose is a sun-soaking, water-wise plant, hardy to zone 8 (maybe 9) and intolerant of sprinkler spray. I lost the first ones I tried to grow and haven’t replanted them…yet!
Rockrose flowers have a saucer-style form with reddish markings surrounding the center tuft of golden stamens. They look strikingly similar to Ringo™’s cheery blooms, and I have found Ringo™ much easier to grow. The enduring shrub had graced our gatherings this spring, reminding me of Joseph’s family saga and his colorful coat.
Discover more about rockrose in the Garden in Delight Plant Guide:
Blurbs & Praises
Featured in ripen – a gardening lifestyle magazine Spring Issue
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enjoy this faith-based gardening magazine & my conversation with Kimberly Bloom
Refresh with a Poem
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if the colorful Ringo™ Rose reminds you of Joseph’s coat, catch up with the Genesis 37 story in rhyme and meter from the A-to-Z Primer of Plants in God’s Word
Voting Opens this Month
Vote for my book My Father is the Gardener in the 2024 People’s Choice Horti Awards, hosted by GardenComm, Garden Communicators International – online ballot coming soon!
Spring Prayer
Dear Lord, thank you for the season of spring! There is so much to watch for in the garden – leaves budding on trees and shrubs and flowers appearing everywhere, from bulbs to groundcovers to tree canopies. You are training me in this fresh season to be watchful and thankful (Colossians 4:2). Help me learn Your ways through pretty garden views and sweet smells in my garden. How fun! Keep Your delight ever-filling my heart. You love to do new things and this season resounds it! You will heal and restore me and my family even as You move us forward. Bless us to gather at flower-filled tables and tell stories praising You for what You have done. Spring seasons lead to harvest seasons, hallelujah! And Your Word stands tall through it all. I am grateful to stand with You. In Jesus Name, Amen.
