an unexpected present

in Swedish, “en oväntad gåva”

This morning, my husband and I woke up to something unexpected. This bright beauty bloomed right in time for my birthday today and Jaakko’s tomorrow.

Unlike most people in my family, I do not have a green thumb. In fact, in our former apartment, all of our house plants — save one pitiful yucca — died. When a friend gave us this plant as a house-warming present last October, I did not have the heart to tell her that she had just given it a death sentence.

This banana-look-alike barely survived the winter; it hardly grew new leaves and looked…well, frail. I wanted to throw it away already (Sorry, Cleide!). But J somehow saw its potential and encouraged me to be faithful in keeping it moist. As winter drew to a close and the days became longer, we noticed that the leaves appeared perkier, shoots became abundant, and the soil dried faster. And when we transferred it to a new pot, we even had to cut away and replant separate growths. Hurrah, it was really thriving! Gramma and Papa would be so proud.

Now call me crazy, but I believe that the plant understood and appreciated our devotion to its growth. Just look at how it has rewarded us!

P.S.
Yes, spring has finally arrived in the north, Joy!

P.P.S.
Jaakko did a bit of research and found out that our beautiful surprise is a canna lily.

Oh, and Gramma said that in the Philippines, they call it Bandera española (the Spanish flag), obviously derived from the color scheme.

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