Thinking about Changes in Nature

This week's assignment was focused on the changes that may occur in nature in a day, a season, a year and 20 years.  It is funny, but I had just posted to my other blog, Nature Bits and Bytes, about this same topic. Here is the link to that post.
I was fascinated with the changes this year--it seems winter would never end and when spring came, it was quick: sometimes change is fast!

So what could I comment on differently in this blog.  I decided to look at my native flower bed.  This has certainly changed and will continue to change, with or without my intervention.

I had recently mulched this bed or weeds would have taken over in a season and year.  And in 20 years this would have been a forest, as evidenced by the many seedlings I had to pull from the bed.  So here I was trying to stop nature...trying to stop the changes.

Stopping the changes would be like trying to stop a hurricane.  The bee balm (above) is an aggressive plant and, without tending, would take over this garden.  This started as one small plant.  In a few years, this might be the only plant in the garden without some culling. As the season progresses, I will appreciate its blooms...so will the bees and hummingbirds.

Some plants, like the one above, escaped my cultivation.  Since this plant is a native, I expect it to survive and flourish in the surrounding unmowed "yard" for many years.  It will change, of course, with the seasons...dying back in the winter but coming to life again in the spring.  As for daily change, I should count the number of blooms.  I'm sure those change every day.

This red bud tree that grows naturally at the edge of my flower bed has changed in a year.  Last year, I noticed no flowers.  This year there are a few.  I expect the tree will go dormant in winter, and next year come back with even more flowers.  Unless something unexpected happens.

And that is what is true about nature.  It is always changing, and sometimes in ways you do not expect.