I have never claimed to have a green thumb, but I do enjoy my annual ritual of placing bedding plants into several planters on the patio at the home where I live. The variety of flowers provide pops of colours that carry us through from spring until the fall frost ends this cycle of life, to be repeated the following spring. 

Putting these flowers into potting soil and watering them in is something I do every year, with similar results. The flowers bloom and eventually wither away. Yet for a significant number of weeks the joy brought by seeing the beauty of flowers in full bloom compensates for the moments of melancholy as summer turns to fall on the path to winter. 

The flowers mark both an ending to a season and a passage of time. Endings are part of life. They make way for new beginnings. As winter wanes, I begin to long for the colour of flowers and appreciate this cycle of life every year. 

We can bear witness to this cycle everywhere. Someone recently commented to me how beautiful Giovanni Caboto Park looked when it became green in the spring. The big, beautiful trees in the area are hard to miss when they are alive with buds and leaves. The scent of lilacs and apple blossoms permeate many yards and gardens in the area. 

Then the temperature drops, the snow falls, and we look forward to another season of blooming. 

I know there is also beauty in the patterns of frost on windows and bright sunshine on fresh snow. But for now, I will cherish the present moments of colour. The future will take care of itself.