Drawn to the rich, emerald mound of heart-shaped foliage I knew early on this was to be a vessel abundant in the deepest essence of love. How could it not be? While studying this beloved wild flower I noticed not only the obvious slight tilt of head many of the blooms displayed, but even more so their delicate, collective dance above the foliage. Their nearly frail stems, flexibly bend this way and that – inviting us to perhaps notice the graceful beauty of flexibility as we grow too. Arms intertwined, they rise from their ground of Love – flexibly and modestly – and dance a quiet, lovely ballet for us.

The blooms are very small, yet they are filled with a powerfully beautiful essence as they rise above their garden of fertile emerald hearts and open their delicate petals. Each bloom displays five petals – two upper, two laterals and one lower. I reflected upon how we too bloom under the protection of the “upper realm” – are always surrounded and supported with brothers and sisters aside – and always, always have an open “landing strip” of invitation for all that might nurture us. Mother Nature placed the subtle stripes upon the lowest of the petals on the violet to be used as a guided “landing strip” for the bees to find their nourishment. The ultra-violet sensing eyes of the bee can see these much better than we can. How sweet is that?

The violets produce what are called cleistogamous flowers, which sprout low or underground on the plants, appearing as immature blooms, buds or pods. These flowers contain all the critical elements to produce fertile seeds. This is particularly helpful as the plants sometimes bloom earlier than many pollinators are highly active; and these cleistogamous flowers insure it will reproduce. We might look upon these flowers as “defective” while in effect they are (while visually not as attractive as the other blooms) equally potent. This is a great lesson for us in not assuming one’s potency by appearance alone – in its (and our) perfect timing we will produce all we are intended to bloom and contribute. Several clusters of cleistogamous flowers appear on the vessel.

And then the beloved, quiet ants appear again (three are etched, hidden, on the very bottom of the vessel). Ants literally farm the seeds underground, a process called myrmecochory. They are drawn to the oils in the seeds yet the shell is too hard for them to eat and this propagates them, as the seeds are scattered and hence protected from birds and rodents – allowing them a far greater chance to germinate. I pondered again, how often do we neglect to be grateful for the many “invisible helpers” in our lives? They are ever present working on the behalf of us in both large and small ways – yet often invisible to us in the present moment.

Offered in a limited edition of 37 (the number of blooms on the vessel); Love Blooms is hoped to
remind us of the blanket of Love from which we each sprout and dance; while inviting us to notice, with gratitude, our own invisible helpers, the rich gifts of modesty, flexibility and the absolute perfect timing of Love blooming in our lives.