Ephemeral

ephemeral - fleeting, lasting a short while.

Many of my favorite flowers in Spring, like Springbeauties, only have a short window before they are gone. They have a distinct purpose: they grow quickly and grow early enough in the season to provide nectar for pollinators that are emerging while richer plants are still waking up.

Virginia Springbeauty wildflowers in March 2026.

The average person mows these down usually so we may not always observe them, but these early spring flowers do some much for our winged friends. Pollinator-friendly Pro Tip: wait to mow until temps are consistently in the 50’s and/or leave a patch unmowed to help the environment.

Speaking of pollinators, I didn’t get to raise any Swallowtails last year. Not because I didn’t have the resources, or that I mowed anything down too early, but because I moved my herb garden to the shade. I had plenty of plants, but I still had a different outcome than how 2024 went.

Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterflies (Papilio polyxenes) will lay eggs on Dill and Fennel plants.

See, I’m a scientist more than an expert gardener, so I thought this was for the best. I thought the scorching Louisiana sun would be too much for the plants and butterflies. By the time I noticed otherwise, crucial time was wasted. The plants were bent out of shape “reaching for sunlight.” Butterflies didn’t find them in time even when I moved the garden bed back to the sunlight. I was out of alignment for that season. I missed my window.

Gardening teaches many life lessons. What I’ve learned is sometimes God’s instructions for our life and our purpose are crystal clear. Take the job. Move to a new city. Downsize this year. So many times we feel it in our gut what to do next.

Sometimes, we get instructions in stages. Even beyond that, we have long wait periods before we see results, and our faith must kick in to still do the work while we wait.

Here’s a real-life example. My summer plants are slowly pushing out new growth. Before they reach their full potential, I still must care for them now. It’s inspiring to see the start of a project and to just ponder on where it could be months from now, but even in all that, I have to show up and do the work every day to get to the end result. Faith without works is dead. If I believe they will grow, then I have to support the growth with care.

I trimmed dead limbs from my fig tree to help it produce a better harvest later on.

We are commanded to still stay in position until the appointed time of harvest. We often try to help God and move OUT of alignment from our purpose, causing delays to our blessings. The good news is, sometimes we get chances for redemption. For me, after much waiting and troubleshooting, its now a new growing season and I can fix my mistakes.

I’m so eager to witness many of my Summer plants grow back and grow even more this season than last, but I also respect the process. Growth takes time. Some days you make great progress, and sometimes you’re just holding on riding out a storm.

My Passionvine starting to wake up after a Winter nap.

One of my hardest hobbies is rearing butterflies. I used to buy Painted Lady kits until I learned the controversy behind them. I’ve since transitioned to attracting them naturally via my garden and overall yard ecosystem (the trees, the weeds, and all play a part) but even then its not a guarantee from year to year what I am able to accomplish. While doing yard work I noticed a new butterfly species and some REAL butterfly eggs! The butterfly was the Falcate Orange Tip (Anthocharis midea) which is known to be an “early Spring” butterfly, only being seen in a small window of time. This find was a HUGE blessing for me!

Check out more pictures here including a microscopic view of the eggs. Follow me for more daily finds.

Falcate Orange Tip Butterfly (Anthocharis midea) laying eggs.

I would've never seen it had I not been enjoying Spring and doing the outside work that this season calls for. Spring is fleeting. Just like wildflowers, just like certain windows of time in our lives. Don’t skip over the work for now trying to rush to the next. Enjoy every season as they come, because everything won’t last forever.

Final Takeaway: Heed the simple instructions in life until more direction is given, even when it’s uncomfortable. Trust God and trust the process. The process is uncomfortable but sticking to the plan always yields results after while.