The Lily of the Valley

We sing a hymn in church called "Lily of the Valley."  It is such an upbeat and happy song, fast-paced and joyful.  It's not singing about flowers, but of one of the names of Jesus.  The Lily of the Valley is mentioned in Song of Solomon 2:1.  Here are the words to the first verse of the hymn.  Perhaps you sing it, too?

I have found a friend in Jesus-

He's ev'rything to me,

He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul;

The Lily of the Valley- in Him alone I see

All I need to cleanse and make me fully whole.

In sorrow He's my comfort, in trouble He's my stay,

He tells me ev'ry care on Him to roll;

He's the Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star,

He's the greatest of ten thousand to my soul.

We have many flowers blooming in the yard right now.  I'll show you a few.  First, we have the amaryllis.  It is a beautiful flower that almost looks like it is not real:

Next, we have red lilies.  We've moved these around from place to place.  They are hardy and bloom every year in clusters:

Next, we have the show-stopper.  Louisiana Iris.  These things are stunning:

We have given some to our son and he's planted them at his home.  We've also moved some to a bed under the drip line by our back patio.  It all started here, though:

Approximately twenty-one years ago, I pulled my truck to the side of a gravel road by the "big well."  We have an irrigation well that pumps cool, fresh water from over a hundred feet beneath the surface to flood rice fields.  There is a ditch that always had water in it regardless how hot and dry the summer was.  This ditch was the perfect locale for Louisiana Iris to flourish.  They grew there wild.  I took out my shovel from the bed of my truck and dug a small shovelful of iris roots.  I took it home and planted it in a low place in the yard around an oak tree (above).  The iris is happy there and has multiplied.  Each year we enjoy walking by the blooming flowers and admire its beauty.

We're not the only ones who like the flowers.  Check out the dragonfly in the greenery of the iris!

And there is one other critter that likes the iris!  Tricia noticed that a Rhode Island Red hen was outside the fence the other day, scratching around the blueberry bushes and generally being a nuisance in the yard.  She chased the hen into the Louisiana Iris and discovered the hen's nest amongst the flowers.

He's the Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star,
He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul.