Fillers, Spillers, and Thrillers
What’s blooming in your life?
I don’t know about you, but I love a good binge on HGTV. I also love looking at their website and this was exactly what I was doing when I came across this gardening article, “How to Design a Container Garden.”
The gist of the article was about plant placement within your flower boxes. How certain plants are fillers, and they are the rich base that adds balance to the arrangement. Then there are the plants that add the excitement to your arrangement, they are the taller plants that add height and are called thrillers. My favorites, though, are the spillers, that tumble out of the container toward the ground.
They go on to mention when “considering plants to use as your fillers, thrillers and spillers, think about their texture, fragrance and color combinations.” As I read this I could hear Forrest Gump talking in my ear, “Life is like a box of Flowers.”
Say what??? Then I got it! The experiences and people in our life are what add the height, depth, texture and character to our life.
Fillers are the flowering plants that complement but don’t overwhelm the main players in the flower box. For me, family is what adds the depth/filler to my life. They spread out and fill in all the spaces where I need support and balance and a little pop of color. Without my fillers in my life I would have lots of bald spots, leaving the arrangement of my life off balance and boring. They add interest without being intrusive (on good days) and keep your eye moving across the arrangement called “my life”.
Thrillers are the tall, star quality plants in your flower box, the center piece, big, bold and beautiful. Most of my highlights, my thrillers, can be attributed to my decision to adopt my son and live as a single parent. The day I got the news that he was coming to live with me; then the sound a year later of the judge’s gavel as he proclaimed the adoption final; plus the millions of sloppy kisses bestowed upon me; his first steps; heading off to school with his backpack on his shoulders; watching him grow into a handsome young man…all spikes that add energy and the wow-factor to my life. They are what make me catch my breath and ask if this is all real?
Spillers are the ‘splash of mischief’ that just tumbles out of the pot, softening the edges, echoing or contrasting the other plants. Being a single parent also added to the spillers in my life. My son came to live with me when he was 18 days old. I knew nothing about raising no babies!! The weeks, months and years of sleep deprivation; the day I got his Autism diagnosis, well that certainly added a riot of color and unexpected “spillage” out of my container.
In the recent years, the spillers in my life were wrapped around helping my aging parents and the lows that come with watching them move into their sunset years. Mom was 9 years into her battle with Alzheimer’s and it was a full-time job, deadheading the spent blooms. Dad, frailer than ever but he stood tall on that wall, making sure his wife of 65 years was taken care of.
All these elements together have created a spectacular arrangement of riotous color and vibrant growth in my flower box, that I happily tend to daily, making my life spectacular and breathtaking. The fillers, thrillers and spillers seem to change seasonally but they are always “best in show” quality. And the fragrance, unbelievable! I’ve been blessed with an amazing arrangement.
What’s in blooming in your box?
Artwork by Secret Garden via pixels.com
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