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Goodbye, Zinnias, So Long, Glads, Winter's Coming & I'm So Sad

 

Fall is upon us...the chilly mornings call for my late father-in-law's red-plaid "Elmer Fudd" Jacket, set off by my red-flannel, fleece jam bottoms, with deer on them..This is my "uniform" for walking the dog in the early hours...sadly, some people actually see me dressed this way.

This spring, I dusted off my gardening hat, and rented a 40'x40' plot from our community gardens.  I had visions...great visions, of corn, and tomatoes, and flowers, and sweet potatoes, and well, you get the idea...what I got was rain...and more rain, then, it rained some more.  A fungus set in, and claimed much of everyone's garden plot...what I got were Zinnias..lots of lovely Zinnias, and a few glads, along with a few tomatoes, and some eggplant.  So, all was not lost...but, still....

 

I forgot to mention the snapdragons...saucy snaps...

I loved bringing home my harvest, and creating tablescapes from crisply-ironed, white linens, bronzes, and collected books...All worth the back-breaking rototilling, with a rototiller that was stubborn as an old mule...

This is pretty much the extent of the snapdragon harvest..sadly, with all the rain, it was difficult, fine, it was impossible to keep the weeds at bay on such a large piece of land, so, I chose my battles...the vegetables came first, then, the melons (the deer ate those), then, the flowers.  What I found was; zinnias are hearty, beautiful and just kept blooming).  They ended up being my favorite flower.  I did plant Cosmos, and they were lovely, but by the time I cut them, putting them in my French, flower buckets, they were wilted by the time I got them home.  You could practically run over the zinnias, and they just smiled and kept on being beautiful, complex flowers.

  By placing them in front of a mirror, I could double the effect...just adding fresh water every day made them last for at least a week.  When you get your flowers home, give them a fresh cut...I cut them with a sharp paring knife rather than scissors, as scissors sometimes close off the stem, preventing them from drinking.

Weeding this "garden" just wasn't going to happen, I had to set it free, and let it run wild.  I did hoe and mulch around the vegetables, but the flowers were pretty much on their own.  I planted some gladiolas in bunch of five, and mulched around them...I managed to get some for cutting...I love glads..they are stately and the colors are lovely.

I have a pair of etched-glass vases my wonderful mother-in-law gave me, and I cherish them.  By placing them in front of the venetian blinds, and putting my cameo-backed dining chair behind them, I created what I consider my "Film Noir" shot...

My favorite vase is my "fan vase", as you can create a very "full" floral design without that many flowers.  I don't like "tortured" designs...flowers are graceful on their own.  I did manage to get come cosmos to come home and gathered Queen Anne's Lace by the side of the road (I refer to it as "roadsidia).  There is "Cow Parsley", which resembles QAL, but, is larger and not quite as delicate.  I love it.  The trick with this vase is not to tip it, as I've spilled on table tops too many times.

I discovered one, volunteer sweetpea, strugglling to survive under the weeds, so I liberated it, and brought it home....I don't think humans can possibly be as creative as Nature...just so lovely.  In fact, I will just finish this by putting the closeups of the zinnias, as they are stunning in color and complexity.  I hope to paint them this winter, remembering that at one time, I thought they were ordinary-looking...how foolish of me.

"Zinnia Noir"

 

If I start painting now, I might have them all painted by Spring!