I did some dead heading in the zinnia garden last evening. It is hard to watch the precious blooms losing color and going to seed.
They are looking tired and worn, falling over from wind and rain. The leaves have lost some color, looking very faded, and covered with a powdery mildew.
Although smaller, they are still loaded with new buds, and dead heading will give this last round of buds a chance for a last hooray.
There is the compulsive side of me that wants to pull this rambling mess of floppy flowers out in an attempt to restore order to the garden.
But the bees and butterflies are making the most of the remaining blooms, knowing their days are numbered, and they don’t give a hoot if the flowers are going over and falling to the ground.
We’ve had a continued warm and wet fall, but frost can’t be held off forever. All too soon, these simple beauties will be a memory that will have to last me through the winter.
This is when I’m glad I blog and capture these moments in time some place where I can view them over and over when everything sleeps, and snow lies deep on the ground.
I get exactly this compulsion – to tidy up now even though there are still buds to come! It’s weird, isn’t it? I think some part of me things the sooner I tidy up the sooner spring will arrive!
I never really thought of it like that. I’m compulsive by nature, like a very tidy garden, and by this time of year, it is anything but that. It is still unusually warm here, more like August, but at least we are getting a good amount of rain with it. Certainly hasn’t felt like fall yet. I went outside to work in the gardens this morning at 7:30a and by 9:30a, it was too hot and humid to stay out there.
thinks!
The zinnias are just beautiful. I’ve planted some seeds, and hope mine are as lovely.
It takes a long time from seed, but once they get going, there is no stopping them and they will bless you over and over again in many ways.