Potted amaryllis now planted in the yard.
I was invited to join.
It has bloomed!
And I am grateful.
Last Easter, I wrote a feature about the proliferation of blood red amaryllises growing around Wayne County. Each gardener with whom I spoke could trace the plants to the late Dr. Aubrey Alsobrook, former minister of First United Methodist Church, Jesup.
When I called to ask about the multiple amaryllis beds surrounding Rinehart Funeral Home, the owner was more than happy to tell me her story.
Dr. Alsobrook and his wife Jacqueline planted six amaryllis bulbs in front of the funeral home in 1988 in memory of the Eulee Rinehart. As the shrubbery grew, the staff moved the bulbs to the side of the building. Over the years, the owner has separated the “daughters” and planted them around the building. These days when they bloom in the spring, over 1,000 blossoms are visible.
In addition to working the flower beds, she also shares “daughters,” the offshoots, with others. She gave me a bulb with beautiful green leaves.
She says, “If you don’t share, they’ll suffocate and die.”
Bob planted the bulb in a huge pot and placed it on the porch for me to water and fertilize and wait. Each month, I checked for possible stalks, but none came. Then mid-March, a full year later, three buds were visible. As they have opened, each has three to four flowers. Each blossom is gorgeous in its own right, but together, they create a showy bouquet. If people could visit, they would marvel at the sight.
Last month, Bob removed three “daughters” and planted them in another pot. We’ll continue to water them regularly and wait for next spring. If the green leaves don’t die, surely new bulbs will grow.
Last year, I talked with a number of people whom the minister also had gifted with bulbs for their yards. Whenever Dr. Alsobrook gave plants away, he usually planted them in the recipient’s yard, often while that person was at work. Beneficiaries have shared the offsprings of their gift with others. I realize that other gardeners also grow and give away bulbs, but whenever I see a bed of blood red amaryllis in Jesup, I immediately think of Dr. Alsobrook.
A close friend of the Alsobrooks, remembers. “Dr Alsobrook loved to garden and never went anywhere without a necktie. We would see him plowing in his necktie.”
The Alsobrooks retired to Jesup before eventually moving to Magnolia Manor in Americus. While in Jesup, those blood red amaryllises, his signature plant, lined their white fence for the community to enjoy and by which individuals could be inspired.
In addition to owning a “granddaughter” of one of his plants now, I have another very strong memory about the giving nature of Dr. Alsobrook. One Sunday afternoon in early 1989, my in-laws had driven from Brunswick to visit us for a few hours. While they were present, my mother called to tell me that my grandmother, just months shy of her 100th birthday and 1,000 miles away, was dying. Widowed, Grandmother had moved in with us when I was three. We shared a bedroom for years. She was truly like a second mother.
After our folks drove away, we walked back into the house. We had just closed the door when the bell rang. I opened the door expecting to see them returning for something forgotten, but there stood Dr. Alsobrook. He said as he was driving past our house, he felt a need to stop. He had turned around, driven back, and he offered great comfort in my time of sadness.
Dr. Alsobrook was a giver of flowers, of comfort, of God’s messages. My grandmother was also a giver in the ways she cared for me.
May each time I see any amaryllis, in bloom or not, I will be reminded that many gifts multiply when we share. I, a beneficiary of a gift shared, take this message to heart.
And, I am grateful.
2020
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