Sometimes You Just Need a Little Faith!

Back in the day when I was growing up, there was a gentleman that owned a nursery just a couple of miles from our house. Mr. Brodie was well known in the area for the Camellias that he would grow. This man would propagate new types of Camellias quite often and sometimes his wife would name them. Almost everyone on the Coast had heard of Mr. Bob and his prowess in the field. It was so commonplace to hear someone say that they had a "Mr. Bob" Camellia that I, as a child, assumed the man had actually invented these lovely bushes! In our yard, there were dozens of his pieces of work! He created some of the most beautiful Camellias I have ever seen. Years and years ago, as a wedding gift, my Uncle Alfred and Aunt Marie gave us two beautiful Camellias. My husband and I were elated! Our first bushes! One was the Purple Dawn, which might or might not have been his cultivar but the other..the "Faith" was definitely his! If you look into the background of the "Faith" you will see that it came from Biloxi, Mississippi but rarely mentions Mr. Bob..now you know the "rest of the story!" The tale that I heard as a child was that his wife, Miss Virginia, (as we called her!) named this Camellia. Now, I am not positive about that naming part, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it! The Faith is a beautiful pink blossom that has yellow stamens and occasionally a few petals that cluster in around the center.

FAITH..how appropriate of a name for a Camellia. These flowers bloom in the cold of Winter, usually in February here on the Bayou. Because of this, Camellias have long been the flower that gives hope that Spring is right around the corner. Those of us that have grown weary of the Winter drear can have faith that warmer days are near when we seen the buds opening out into their full-blown glory.

FAITH also comes into play with my own particular two bushes! These bushes are over thirty years old now and have seen some rough times. Hurricane Katrina literally buried them under approximately twelve feet of debris and there they stayed for months. Not because we did not care about these bushes, but rather because it took that long to finally uncover them. There were boards, trees, furniture and even most of a truck on top of these two bushes. When we did find them, they were bent, broken and defoliated due to the salt water and tons of debris. I was heartbroken to say the least. During this time, so many things were beyond saving. I stood looking at my Camellias with a heavy heart..so many things were ruined, but for some reason, these hurt. I remember how my daughter told me to "Have 'FAITH', Mom, they will come back!" Her play on the name renewed my spirits! I will have FAITH! My bushes WILL live! She and I pulled and pushed until we at least managed to stand them partially erect. The roots had been washed clear of soil and the debris had scarred the bark but we were determined! These bushes WILL live! And live they did! They are still bent but they have bloomed every year since this happened! And my faith survived..my little Bayou would be revitalized.

It seems that this bush is living up to its name. Where the roots were scarred and laid bare, several new "shoots" have sprouted. These are several years old and this year will be cut from the main bush and transplanted a few feet away from the original. Perhaps faith caused this bush to know that it could renew itself in this way or perhaps it is just a fluke of Nature that the roots sprouted..who knows?.... Sometimes you just need to have a little faith to carry on in this world.