60 to 60: Lessons from the Clearance Rack

I get pretty excited about sale racks, wherever plants are sold. I make it my personal mission to check way, way back in the corner of the store for that great big yellow sign that screams CLEARANCE. Surely there will be plants that will need my rescuing! Not only do I have a green thumb or two, but as I think I’ve mentioned, I can be quite frugal. I LOVE the clearance rack because there you will find perfectly good plants that just happen to look kinda down and out, a little sick or okay, close to death.

Here's the secret: All you have to do is look for signs of growth. Any signs. Maybe you can bring some life back.

I was at our local Walmart recently, on the hunt for flowering vines. How delighted was I to find these clematis for only two dollars each? Score! To find three felt especially lucky, as my mother, a gifted and intuitive gardener, taught me to plant things in threes. So I do.

Look, all these plants need, the ones that end up on the lowly clearance rack, is care. Just pick off the rotten leaves and cut the dead stuff off, massage the roots and give it some good soil and a place to thrive, some water, sun, protection from wind and maybe bunnies and deer. You care for, and love on this plant every day, in some way. You pay attention. You watch it thrive.

It’s the same with us, right? Sometimes we wilt. We droop, lose parts of ourselves, maybe fall down for a while. Our breath, our life force, gets compromised, weakened. I believe it happens to all humans at one point or another. It just looks different on every person.

What if there is nothing wrong? Maybe time is all that’s needed. This is nature. Maybe the trick is, look for signs. Look for signs of life. Where is there green? What’s alive? What do the roots look like? Is there hope? Or, is it time for something different?

We learn stuff about doing this deal called Life in the weirdest places. See you at the clearance rack.