The Best Laid Plans

Most summers, I plant an excess of zinnia seeds so that I can enjoy abundant bouquets in the late summer months.  This year, I planted some extra gladioli bulbs to join the zinnias (because, as Winston Churchill once noted, "nothing succeeds like excess.").  I had figured on the glads blooming in mid to late July.

But gardening is all about planning and patience and then rolling with the punches when the unexpected emerges.  This season's unexpected was a whole lot of early warmth.  The gladioli bulbs didn't wait to bloom according to my schedule.  Instead, they set to flowering in late June and early July.  Most of the glad flowers came and went while I was camping.  

I did catch two flowers before I left town and since I'm in it for the bouquets, I went right ahead and picked those stems.  Then I added a hydrangea bloom and enjoyed a lovely summer bouquet.

The zinnias are coming along and I expect an abundance of flowers in the weeks ahead.  Internet, you know what that means…bouquet pictures.