I mentioned in yesterday’s blog post about moving lots of ferns. Now is the time to move ferns!
March. And the first part of April.
As the weather warms up throughout April, the brand-new baby fern fronds will start to emerge from the center of the fern plant. At first, the brand-new fronds are tiny little curled up fuzzy masses down at the base of the plant (they remind me a lot like the fuzzy “rabbit’s foot” key-chains from years past).
Gradually the curled-up fronds stretch tall and reach upwards, eventually unfurling into the beautiful new fern leaves for this coming summer.
Hubby and I have moved ferns in the middle of the summer before. But this is very hard on the plant. The shock of having its roots dug up during the middle of summer’s heat is a huge stress on the plant. The fern has a much harder time re-establishing in its new location.
The best time to move ferns is in March. The new fronds have yet to unfurl … so there is no threat of damaging the new growth for this next year. Additionally, the weather is still cool, and the roots are still in a state of winter dormancy.
Not only that, there are still several more months of rain which will help to keep the newly transplanted ferns healthy and happy as they re-establish new root systems in their new location.
Now is the time.
When it comes to doing work for God’s Kingdom, the same thing is true.
If I was to carry over the “forest” analogy from yesterday’s blog post, we might think of advancing God’s Kingdom like expanding the “forest.” God’s Kingdom is like a beautiful well-cared-for “forest” … surrounded all around by desolate, dangerous wilderness.
In this analogy, we can think of our job as Kingdom ambassadors to advance into, push back, and actively work to cut back the encroaching briars of the wilderness … and in turn, to plant and further-expand the beautiful well-cared-for “forest.”
Now is the time.
Now is the time to cut back sticker bushes and briars.
Now is the time to dig up the ferns and transplant them.
Now is the time to transplant Oregon Grape plants … native salal … and wild gooseberry plants.
Now is the time to push back the darkness … and advance the Kingdom of God!
Now is the time!
“As long as it is day, we must do the work of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” – John 9:4
