gardening – EVERYDAY ENCOUNTERS

Posted on May 22, 2025May 22, 2025 by Angela Jelf · 3 Comments

Garden Diaries – May, 2025

I’m a happy lass when the month of May finally arrives.

Although temperatures in London can vary from year to year, generally speaking, May tends to bring with it enough sunlight to wake up my dormant plants and convince them that it’s time to get on with the business of growing.

This year, we’ve been fortunate enough to get a warm, dry Spring, with plenty of sunshine- which makes rising early something of a joy. What could be nicer than an early morning gander around the garden with a cup of tea in hand?

There’s always something new to see! And hear. A cheerful, male blackbird has become a regular morning visitor, perched high above me on a particular chimney pot, where he serenades me awake with a particularly impressive range of whistles and trills. The song of the blackbird really is a delightful sound. (You can read a story about a Blackbird here! https://angelajelf.com/2025/05/22/the-art-of-brevity-a-story-in-50-words/)

Occasionally, I get to witness a free aerodynamic display, courtesy of the Swifts, who reappear around the start of May every year. (You can read a poem about them here: https://every-day-encounters.blog/2022/05/17/the-swifts/)

A few times this month, I’ve also been rewarded for having risen early by a flock of Canada Geese, flying in V formation overhead and honking their ‘Good Morning!’

And as for the flowers…well… I’ll just let the photos do the talking.

1st – 5th May

These Iris, which were originally dug up from my mum’s garden, are the first flowers to bloom- and they never cease to amaze me!

They always remind me of the words of Jesus:

And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field and how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. (Matt 6:28-29)

8th – 15th May

The yellow rose pictured here is a fairly new edition- it’s got an unusual saucer-shaped flower and bears the name: ‘Tottering By Gently’ which is very apt when you see it fluttering on the breeze! I’m so pleased it’s flowered at the same time as the Iris this year. The colours, being on the opposite side of the colour wheel, look so beautiful together.

15th – 20th May

It’s lovely to see the hardy geraniums starting to fill out and flower – and to count up all the rose-buds, which are on the cusp of opening.

One thing gardening never fails to teach me, is patience. A rose simply won’t be rushed – and that’s all there is to it.

It’s also lovely to have a constant companion, in the form of Honey, our six month Labrador Pup.

I hope you enjoyed this little virtual walk around the garden!

Posted on May 2, 2025May 2, 2025 by Angela Jelf · 2 Comments

Just The Right Jug (A Very Short Story)

It was a beautiful June afternoon and the garden was in full bloom. So much so, that some of my favourite mauve geraniums were spilling out of the flower bed onto the garden path.

Unable to bear the thought of them getting trampled on, I hastily grabbed my secateurs and snipped off some of the drooping blooms. Something like a twinge of regret nagged at my heart as I went to dump them in the cuttings bin. Seemed like such a waste.

But then I remembered I had just the right jug.

Posted on September 14, 2024September 14, 2024 by Angela Jelf

The Broken & The Beautiful

I have this scruffy old fence panel at the back of my garden that doesn’t match the rest. I’m so conscious of it sticking out like a sore thumb.

But recently, after moving some plants around in the garden, I discovered it makes the perfect backdrop for this orange rose. Something about that battered, weather-beaten wood only serves to highlight the beauty and perfection of the rose all the more.

It got me thinking about the verse in 2 Corinthians:
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.’ (2 Cor 4:7)

I find it mind-blowing that God chooses to make His dwelling place in ordinary, broken, weather-beaten people like me.

He doesn’t choose the wise or the strong. He deliberately chooses the lowly and despised things of this world -and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him. (1 Cor 1:27-29).

This is such good news! It means we don’t have to attain to a level of perfection in order to come before Him. No! We can come as we are! In fact, His power is made perfect in our weakness! (2 Cor 12:9)

I’m so grateful that God chose a ‘fixer-upper’ like me in order to display the riches of His glorious grace and mercy all the more!

Posted on May 16, 2024May 2, 2025 by Angela Jelf

The Tale of the Ugly Iris Corms

“I’ve just dug up some Iris Corms – would you like them?” my mum asked, one sunny Sunday morning.

“Yes please!” I answered eagerly. I never refuse a freebie from my mum’s garden.

A few hours later, mum arrived, plant pot in tow.

I peered inside. And…eeewww!

what are those things?

I don’t know if you’ve ever seen an Iris Corm? Well, I can confidently report that they are not a pretty sight. They look a bit like gnarly, oversized parsnips.

Attached to the corms, were lots of fan-shaped leaves, which had been lopped off bluntly, at an odd angle, which made the whole effect resemble some kind of South American woodwind instrument.

Hmm. Weird.

Planted up and sticking out of the soil, they looked like a bad haircut, reminiscent of the time my daughter tried to trim her own fringe.

“What are those things?” asked my husband, wrinkling up his nose. “Are those leeks?”

Leeks? Not really the look I was going for.

Patience, dear heart. Just have a little patience!

BUDDING BEAUTIES

Now I don’t know why it always amazes me so much, that what goes into the soil, usually comes up! I always get so happy about it!

But sure enough, the following spring, up came three crops of spear-like leaves. Followed by some long, thin stalks. Then, on the end of the stalks, some grey-green buds appeared.

Aha! Promising!

All through May I kept a keen eye on those buds. Then eventually, a few of them began to turn purple. Oh, the excitement! Even the children I look after were getting on board!

And then one fine day – the dramatic unfurling finally happened! And wow – what a knockout!

grand designs

Now if I were a fashion designer, I’d definitely be paying close attention to these patterns and colours! The darker bearded petals reminded me of the Velvet Morning Jacket, that my hubby wore on our wedding day!

And then, a bonus surprise! One of the clumps we had planted was taking a while longer to flower. We soon found out why when they eventually did!

Somehow, unbeknownst to mum and I, we’d managed to plant two different varieties!

The second type were daintier somehow – a softer mauve, all one tone, all ruffles and flounces, like the frills on a flamenco dancer’s dress!

I’M A SWAN!

It just goes to show, beautiful things can come out of unexpected places! Beauty can sometimes be found hiding inside what might first appear to be a bit of a fixer-upper! With a little bit of faith, patience and time, amazing transformations can take place!

Hope you enjoyed this post!

Have you got any Iris in your garden? Or any stories of garden surprises? If so, I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.

Happy gardening dear friends!

Posted on June 22, 2023May 1, 2025 by Angela Jelf · 4 Comments

Garden Song

An hour of toil in the garden,
Is always time well spent,
Tugging out those stubborn old weeds,
Which year upon year won't relent.

An hour spent tending the garden,
Is never wasted time,
Lungs full of wonderful, fresh Spring air,
Hands caked in dirt and grime.

It's hard to feel glum in the garden,
Birds chirping high in the trees,
Potting up Pansies so cheery and bright,
Hair tugged about on the breeze.

Cutting the deadwood and turning the earth,
Allowing the sun to get through,
Seems to clear my cluttered mind,
And lifts my spirits too.

Thank you Lord for my garden,
Humble and small though it be,
It's a place where so often I've felt You near,
And Your joy surrounding me.

Once You knelt down in a garden,
And in terrible anguish You cried,
Thy will, not mine be done, Oh Lord!
Abandoned.  Betrayed.  Denied.

One Sunday morn in a garden,
The Son of God rose from the grave,
Bringing salvation and mercy and grace,
To the ones He came to save.

Posted on March 22, 2017February 10, 2018 by Angela Jelf · 3 Comments

Don’t Give Up!

“For as the earth brings forth its sprouts and as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations” – Isaiah 61:10-11

I’ve been praying and longing to see Revival in the UK for many years now. Perhaps you’ve been praying for your nation too? Or perhaps you’ve been praying for years to see someone come to faith. If so, I want to encourage you today!

One morning, a few years back, I was talking to one of my daughters about how committed I am to praying for revival in this land. Just before rushing out of the door to school, she looked at me, a little perplexed and said something along the lines of:

“Mum, this world is so awful. I’m not sure that one person can make that much difference…”

(But more of that story later!)

When I inherited the garden in our current home, it was literally two strips of weedy, unyielding earth. The soil was full of stones. The ‘garden’ had not plant nor flower, just hundreds of very deep rooted weeds.

The only thing it did have, was potential…it was a blank canvass really.

So, determined to have a garden, I began. Digging, weeding, removing stones. It was pain-staking, back-busting! I tried adding sand into the heavy clay soil in order to improve the claggy, ‘stick-to-your-boots’ consistency. I bought bags of rich compost and literally poured them into the beds, digging and turning the earth again and again, to try and provide a more habitable environment for plants and flowers. The groundwork took time.

But eventually the condition of the soil improved.

Then came the long job of buying and trying – going to garden nurseries and coming home with car boots full of perennials and shrubs. I remember placing the plants in the soil – and frankly, being a bit underwhelmed. These puny little plants would just look so insignificant, so small in all that earth! They didn’t make much impact. They certainly didn’t look like the garden magazines I had been browsing through!

Was all this hard work ever going to be worth it?

Fortunately for me, my mum’s garden is full of flowers! So much so, that she was able to give me clumps of Geranium and Sedum from her own beds. Every now and then she’d pop round with a tub full of Iris or Day Lilly – and we’d dot them around as fillers.

All of this activity went on for several years. Planting things. Trying things. Moving things. If I’ve learned one thing about gardening – it’s this: No pain, no gain.

But then suddenly…years down the line, you begin to see your garden taking shape. Suddenly, there’s colour and form. People start to notice: “Isn’t your garden looking lovely?” But best of all – you notice! One warm summer’s evening, you sit outside, sipping a mug of tea, realising that all your hard work is starting to pay off. And you smile…because somehow, the fact that it took time, years even, makes it all the more rewarding. I tended this garden! I kept going year after year, even though – to start off with – nothing much seemed to change.

20160927_070341 — Yes, it’s the same flower bed!

Looking back, all those years that I’ve spent tending my garden, have run parallel to the years that I’ve spent praying for this Nation. Isn’t God great? Don’t you just love the way He weaves the natural and the supernatural together to teach us things? What a prophetic picture lies within all of this toil!

Because the thing is…whatever you sow into a garden, you’ll eventually reap.

Put in a Climbing Rose and come July, you’ll have Climbing Roses! Plant a pot full of Daffodil and Tulip bulbs in September, and POP – there’s your first bit of early spring cheer! Fill your low wall with Geraniums, and hey presto – Geraniums it is!

Today I want to remind you of the wonderful principle that God has set in motion. Sowing and reaping.

“Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting. He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him!” – Psalm 126:5-6

I know that if you’ve sown seeds of prayer for your nation, or your loved one’s salvation – perhaps tears at times – then no matter how long, no matter how many years it takes, some day, one day…you will see your reward.

If you’ve been praying – particularly for revival or salvation – and you’re on the verge of giving up…please don’t! One fine day, when you least expect it, you’ll turn around and your garden will be filled with beautiful blooms! And what a wondrous reward it will be – the fruit of all your labours!

Can I tell you the rest of the story about my daughter? A few days later she came downstairs in the morning and said: “Oh by the way mum, I had a dream about you last night….”

“Go on,” I said, intrigued.

“You were trying to start a fire by rubbing sticks together,” she said. “At first nothing was happening. But you didn’t give up. Then all of a sudden, there was a spark, and then the whole thing just burst into flame!”

My mouth was almost agog as she added:

“And I think it’s to do with you praying!”

So today, here’s God’s message to you (and me): Keep going! Don’t you dare give up!

Posted on June 7, 2014January 19, 2017 by Angela Jelf · 1 Comment

Growing Pains

Twice this week, I have been reminded of the old adage: “No pain, no gain!” It seems to me that growth seldom comes about without a considerable amount of toil.

My first reminder came on Wednesday, when we had to clear out the loft. You see, our house is about to grow! Well not literally. Over the next few weeks, all of our unused roof space will be cleverly converted into two extra bedrooms and a bathroom. It will be a wonderful blessing when the work is all completed, but home renovations certainly come with their own set of peculiar challenges…

Allow me to elaborate. The entire contents of our loft is now piled up precariously in various places around the house! Not a nook or a cranny has escaped! Christmas trees in bulky boxes are stuffed in corners. Seldom used sleeping bags and travel cases now adorn the top of my wardrobe. Dusty old college books are stacked up in the girl’s room, along with those random photos that I don’t really know why I kept. A box of video tapes that my kids used to watch over and over again is fast becoming a trip hazard in the hallway. My son’s beloved wooden train set – all 380 pieces of it – now adds to the clutter in his already overcramped bedroom! Don’t we humans gather a lot of ‘stuff’? Suddenly I am acutely aware of the reason why we needed a loft in the first place!

And just when we thought we’d pulled out the last box of junk from the roof, my husband made a surprise discovery! There in the corner of the loft, up in the rafters, was a bee’s nest! Didn’t see that one coming! Three phone calls and fifty quid later, the bees nest was carried out of the house in a very buzzy cardboard box, by a man clad in a bright blue boiler suit and a most curious netted hat, followed – hot on his heels – by a pack of fascinated children!

So the first thing I’ve learnt is this: if you want to see growth, you are going to have to sort through all of your extraneous clutter! You might uncover a hornets nest, and you might just find the contents of your life are subject to a bit of ‘rearranging’! Ouch!

My second reminder came today – whilst I was doing some gardening. I had decided to tackle a long-neglected patch in my ‘flower bed’. I hesitate to call it a flower bed, because in actual fact, it seemed to have merged with the rest of the lawn! It had enough grass growing through it to start a small meadow! The clay soil, untouched for over a year, had become hard and compact. It took a considerable amount of force to plunge my fork deep enough into the soil to get beneath the stubborn roots of all the unwanted grass and weeds. It involved an awful lot of bending down, hands in the dirt, removing stones, picking out dead stems and roots. I had to painstakingly avoid pulling up a crop of lilies along with the unwanted grass. And just to add to the challenge, this particular section of the flower bed, has a rather over-zealous climbing rose at the back of the border – beautiful, but deadly! It seemed to have sprouted dozens of spiteful little thorny shoots, which lay hidden in the undergrowth, just waiting for me to spike myself on!

There seemed to be only one approach to this task: inch by inch! There were no short cuts. This was going to take time, effort and energy. You see, there’s so much more to creating a beautiful garden than simply planting flowers! That’s the easy part. As any true gardener knows, it’s the preparation – the groundwork – that really counts.

As I was breaking up that hard, unyielding soil, I couldn’t help but reflect on the wonderful ways that God has dealt with me over the years. Breaking up the “fallow ground” – turning over the hard, unyielding, unfruitful places in my heart. As I removed stones and bits of rubble, I couldn’t help but think of how God has “removed my heart of stone, and given me a heart of flesh.” As I heard the satisfying ‘pop’ of weeds being torn out of the earth, it reminded me of the way He has lovingly and patiently rooted out some of those stubborn sins that threatened to overwhelm me. As I pruned back that over-eager climbing rose, I couldn’t help but think of the way He sometimes has to prune back the parts of us that aren’t bearing fruit – the straggling, unruly stems that spoil shape and form, weighing us down, zapping us of energy.

The second thing I learned about growth, is this: it requires dedication, time and commitment. And sometimes it can be a little uncomfortable. If you want to see growth, you are going to need to dig deep. It may require lots of time spent on your knees, crying out to the one who is able to get to the root of those stubborn weeds that threaten to take over! It may involve the pain of pruning, of cutting back those things that are unnecessary. You see, there will never be growth without toil. There will never be new life without labour. Though there be pain in the night, joy will surely come with the morning.

Is growth then, really worth all the effort? Isn’t it easier just to remain within the confines of all that is safe and secure? Isn’t it easier just to put your feet up and leave well alone. Well I suppose we have to ask ourselves a few difficult questions. Do we want to stay within our current limitations? Do we want to let fear keep us within our comfort zones? Do we want to live in our cramped and cluttered houses with our hoard of hard-to-let-go-of ‘stuff’, or do we want to be stretched for better use. Do we want to have lives full of colourful and vibrant blooms, or remain a hard, stony, unfruitful patch of earth? Do we trust the Master Craftsman to “enlarge our borders and stretch out our tent-pegs”? Do we trust the Master Gardener to make us into a “well-watered garden?”

Praise God that there was once a Man who bore the thorns and went through unimaginable toil in order to make me His own. He humbled Himself and bowed low to remove the stones, the rubble and the weeds from my hard, unyielding heart – all because He loved me too much to leave me as I was – all because He wanted to make me into a fruitful vineyard, a planting of the Lord. I wonder if you will join me today, in offering up your heart to all of God’s workmanship – no matter how costly or painful – in order that we might grow into all that He wants us to be.