A Weekend in the Garden

For the past few years, the island beds have been filled with bright orange "Profusion" zinnias.  The bees and butterflies loved them and they had self-seeded in years past to the point of overflowing. I was rather surprised this year when I realized that although the cosmos and cleome had self seeded, the zinnias had not.

While I love the cleome and cosmos, I wanted some more nectar sources for butterflies. I've seen very few butterflies so far this year and worried that the reason might be the lack of their favorite flowers. Or perhaps not, but I decided that planting some zinnias to add diversity to the island beds couldn't hurt.

So on Saturday I headed out to my favorite garden center, Plants for All Seasons, and checked out their selection.  I came home with a flat of yellow, orange and cherry red Profusion zinnias, along with three Torinias and six Ageratum Blue Mist. It was blisteringly hot by the time I got home, so I set the plants on the patio in the shade and retreated indoors for the rest of the afternoon.

I got up early on Sunday to do the planting.  It was overcast and threatening to rain, which kept the temperature down a degree or two, but the humidity was at 90+ percent.  Sweat was rolling off me, but it felt good to have my hands in the dirt, pulling out the bermuda and nutsedge that is ever present in the beds, and planting the new additions.

My back was feeling much better since my fall on the tile floor a couple of weeks ago.  The gentle bending exercise seemed to do me good.  I tried not to over do things and paced myself - weeding or planting for 10 minutes or so and then sitting on the patio with a tall glass of ice tea to recuperate, and then back out to weed some more, or plant something else.

Last night we had an impressive Texas thunder storm and amazing light show, with approximately an inch and a half of rain. I hope the new plants show their appreciation by spreading and blooming profusely!

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.