The daylilies are about to begin their annual dance of color in the garden. Jay Turman will try to outshine Ida’s Magic, as the swashbuckling Pirate Patch will compete with the simple but handsome Woodsman.
The Peach Magnolia has just started opening her frilly petals, as did Velvet Ice. It will be a joy to watch the others follow! It’s nice to know the names of most of these, but many daylilies did not come to me with names other than “purple” or “red.” Others have lost their tags, like the yellow one from Mother’s Day long ago. The names are long forgotten, but not the occasion.
One called “Age of Miracles” is truly splendid, with its ruffled edges and three distinct colors artfully combined on the thick petals. An almost identical daylily is from a friend. Angie doesn’t keep track of flower names, preferring rather to spend the time enjoying the blooms.
So what is important about a name, when a “nameless” flower can be just as beautiful as one with a recognized name? Growers and breeders of daylilies, or hemerocallis (which means “pretty for a day”), would say that it is a big deal. How can you track the plant’s lineage if you don’t know the parent plants?
Some groups of dayliles share a name, or part of a name; such as “spacecoast,” or “candy.” They help us know how a particular daylily will perform in the garden. Will it rebloom? How tall will it grow? Does it keep its leaves in winter? Do the flowers stay open past sunset?
Having a name will also help identify the flower more specifically. My sister-in-law names everything she owns, from her cars to her little wooden ducks that grace her mantel. I have been known to give a plant a name myself. One particular iris from a friend is called “Happiness,” because the variety name had been lost. It is a happy yellow color, and the occasion was a happy one.
In heaven we will be given new names.
“To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it” (Revelation 2:17b, NASB).
This visual of being handed a white stone is heartwarming. Why is this so comforting?
Most of us have had our share of being called an ugly name or two. Growing up, I was called awful names by people close to me. Some of them are stuck in my heart, long after my head has rejected them as unfair and untrue. Be careful what names you use for those around you!
When God gives me the new name, I will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he loves me with all my faults, and I am valuable in his sight. That’s all that matters! Whether we doubt our worth in this life, we are told that our Father does not. He has revealed to us this little bit about Heaven to show his love.
Who names us when we are born? The ones who love us most. When God “names” us, he is sealing the “adoption as sons” (Ephesians 1:5). To name someone, or even something, is to acknowledge endearment.
We now wear the general name “Christians,” which is the best name we could ever choose to wear. God calls us his own.
If the name revealed on that white stone is better, what a wonderful surprise God has in store for us!
Christine (Tina) Berglund