Among the Trees: Back Deck Zinnias

My first house in Nebraska had a fireplace with a terrific Craftsmen-style mantle.  In the backyard garden, I grew zinnias, cosmos, dahlias, and gladiola flowers that I arranged in bunches on the mantle all summer long.  I liked coming into the living room and admiring the flowers from my garden.  Sassafras House doesn’t have a fireplace and bouquets get set on the dining room table.  That’s nice, but I have missed flowers in the living room. 

This summer, I planted zinnia seeds in pots on the back deck.  They can be seen out the back window from nearly every vantage point in the living room and it’s been lovely.  

I’ve cut a bouquet or two but mostly I enjoy seeing the flowers from the windows or sitting among them on the back deck.  The bees feel the same way.

That’s happy!

Summer Days

Our Summer started off rather cool in June and only heated up at the start of July.  The heat was briefly blistering before rains set in to keep lawns green.  It’s pretty hot and humid this week but I’ve not yet tired of the ease of Summer weather, which allows me to slip outside without worry.  The days seem relaxing as they fade into one another.  I thought about the pace of Summer as I enjoyed the shade at Colonial Park the other day. 

We’ve reached the point when Summer Break is halfway over and I’ve begun to think about the return to school in September.  It’s far enough away that I know there is still time to enjoy the relaxed pace of sunny Summer days.  But it’s also close enough that I’ve begun to regret that Summer will come to a halt.  It’s been a really nice Summer, far more relaxing than last Summer and filled with the promise of a busy but happy Fall to come.  The familiar gardens and paths of Colonial Park have provided me with plenty of pleasant strolls and more than a few quiet moments in the shade.  I am grateful for this Summer and I want to say it out loud; to mark my gratitude.  As I stroll the rose garden and smell the flowers I often feel at peace and that's awfully nice.  

Zinnias!

This year, I planted zinnia seeds in pots on the back deck.  I planted in May, fertilized and watered, had to re-planted a smidge (damn the squirrels),  and I gave the seedlings daily pep talks as they grew into leggy branches. Last week, I could see the start of flower buds.  I got pretty excited.  This week, the payoff began. 

I have zinnias!  Bouquets will be in the future and I am best-pleased by this happy development.

All About the Flowers

I love flowers.  At home, I grow zinnias, begonias, geraniums, and impatiens in the Summer.  On occasion, I’ve been known to indulge in a store-bought bouquet.  Most years, I threaten to buy myself an enormous Costco bouquet on my birthday, though I have actually done so only once.  A few times in my life, someone has brought me flowers and once or twice, I’ve been the recipient of a delivered bouquet.  Such treats feel especially extravagant.  

Of late, my flower admiration has happened in nearby gardens - the tulips at a local tulip farm, the daffodils, roses, hydrangeas, and magnolias blooms at Colonial Park.  There are two enormous magnolia trees in the park and I like to visit them and breathe in the scent of the flowers, which last late into July around here. The ivory blooms look almost artificial but they are velvety to the touch and the scent is heady.

In the rose garden, the hydrangeas are blousy and beautiful.  I have a hydrangea in my back yard but it blooms infrequently; I have never discovered the magic sauce for regular flowers so I admire those at the park instead. 

On Sunday, I happened through the rose garden after a rain storm. Many blooms were still wet from the rain, making for some splendid photos.  At least a few of these photos will make my bulletin board for the new school year, to keep me company in the months that do not feature fresh flowers.  

The Scent of Summer: Magnolia Flowers

I first came to admire magnolia trees and their velvety blooms when I lived in Nashville.  The trees were abundant in the area, tall and full with branches that reached the ground.  In May, those branches were heavy with the luscious scent of the blousy magnolia flowers that perfumed the month of May.  I could walk right up to the trees and breathe in the scent.  Here in the North, magnolia trees blooms later, from June into July.  Most people trim the lower branches of the trees and so the blooms are high above.  They are still fragrant and beautiful, though not quite the magnolias that I grew to love.  But in Colonial Park, there are two grand magnolias with branches that sweep the ground. 

The flowers abundant, with many at face-level and there are so many that the scent fills the air around them.  

It’s lovely, an unearned treat of the Summer.

Gratitude Journal: The Growing Season

Since my dad’s passing in February, I’ve made it a daily habit to thank the universe for something good before I tuck in and fall asleep for the night.  It’s a good and worthwhile habit and a welcome addition to the other ways I thank the universe for the grace I find.  Acknowledging gratitude is a tried and true way for me to find peace, which I find to be a necessary step on the way toward happiness.  Over the years, the habit has kept me from being overwhelmed when sadness lingers.   

I often find gratitude in the things I spy in the natural world.  In May and June, when the weather is splendid and the world is filled with new blooms, it’s not a hard search.  There’s the bright impatiens that greet me on the front porch every day.  

Or the zinnia seedlings and canna bulbs I planted on the back deck, seeming to grow larger every day.  

As this year’s growing season takes hold, I miss my dad a great deal.  But I sense his spirit in these flowers I planted and I am grateful for his presence.

Gratitude Journal: Pot of Impatiens

I know someone who calls daily gratitude the “glimmers” in her world.  I like that way of thinking about gratitude.  For me, moments of gratitude are often a glimmer….a moment or more that feels good and happy; when the stars feel aligned and I experience a sense of contentment and peace.  I start this week with much to be grateful for.  Chief among them is the Mother’s Day celebration that JT organized for me.  I felt loved and cared for; understood and appreciated.  It was a day I will remember and reflect upon for many years to come.  

As of this week, my houseplants have been moved outdoors to soak up the warm weather and on the front deck, impatiens and geraniums keep the plants company.  That is such a happy thing in my world.

I can spy this terra cotta pot of impatiens from the rocking chair on the porch; from my cozy reading chair in the living room, and outside when I pass by the front door.   I see it when I leave home in the morning and when I come home in the evening.  The pot is just the right amount of aged; the flowers are verdant and bright and every thing about it fills me with gratitude.  That’s happy!

Style Journal: Outdoor Living

Come May, I begin to organize the front porch and back deck for the outdoor living season.  Well before May, I am daydreaming about being outside with my face turned toward the light and warmth.  Both the porch and the deck expand the reach of my home and offer a comfortable place to read and relax.  

I have a collection of house flags and I decorate the table on my front porch for every season.  But I pull out all the stops for Summer, which starts when I choose two hanging baskets for the iron hooks on the porch pillars.   

Then I fill the plant stand by the front door with flowers.  This year, I’ve a collection of bright pink geraniums and lighter pink impatiens.  The hanging baskets have heartier New Guinea impatient in a shade of purple.  The front porch is large enough to house all of my houseplants for the summer and they thrive in the warmth and shaded sunlight of the Summer season.  There’s a rocking chair and I will spend hours here in the next few months, reading, resting, and generally enjoying the company of my flowers and houseplants.  

The back deck looks out onto my lush backyard and the fairy garden.  Under the limbs of old man tree, the deck has shade enough to remain cool for big chunks of the day.  

A few years ago, I used my Covid teaching bonus to buy some Polywood chairs and they get a lot of use in the Summer, tucked into the corner and perfect for napping in the sunshine.  

We eat many a grilled meal at this table.  

The back deck also gets flowers.  This year, I started with some pots of begonias to keep me company as I wait for the canna bulbs and zinnia flowers to bloom.  This year, I have five pots of zinnias…..it’s probably too many but I have daydreams of being surrounded by the flowers and I’m looking forward to Mason jars full of zinnia bouquets.

The older I get, the more I love outdoor living.  For most of the cold weather season, I look forward to the days when I can sleep with the windows open and sip my morning coffee outside, where I find peace.  I'm determined to soak up that peace this Summer and that is very happy to contemplate.

My Daily Floral Greeting

In late November, Fall Me set to work planting tulip bulbs.  Spring Me is reaping the happy reward of those efforts.  The tulips greet me in the cool May mornings. 

They welcome me home in the afternoon. 

They have been making my days quite lovely and when I see the flowers I send a silent thank you to Fall Me, whose advance planning is paying happy floral dividends.  

Rows and Rows of Tulips

A friend and I made a visit to a local tulip farm on Sunday and the flowers were simply splendid.

Row after row of tulips in all shades greeted us.

I’ve been to the tulip farm before and I knew what to expect.  This visit was better... that in itself was a reminder of how hard 2022 proved itself to be.  This year, we walked through the fields and enjoyed ourselves immensely.  

One Small Flower

Earlier this year, JT and I got matching tattoos on our left forearms.  I have to say that I rather liked it and knew pretty quickly that my first tattoo would not be my last, though I had no specific plans.  But I kept thinking about flowers and plants and once my dad died, I knew. 

My love of plants and gardens is the biggest gift my father gave me.  I will miss talking plants with him and I decided to keep those memories close to me for the coming years.  Gardening is about growing things; it's taught me the value of patience.  In this 56th year of my life, a year when I am once-again sorting out who I am and who I will be, a reminder to look anew at life seems fitting.

This flower, a forget-me-not, is on my inner right wrist.  I can see it whenever I like but can tuck it away if I please.  It's a welcome reminder of my dad and the joy he took in growing things.  My dad was not the tattoo type and he likely would not have approved.  But I do think that he would understand the power of a floral talisman to keep me company and guard my memories.  

Daffodil Days

The year that JT was born, I would pick up a small bouquet of daffodils when I made the weekly run to the grocery store.  They helped me to celebrate my baby boy and made my days sweeter.  When I see daffodils in the market come late February and early March, I think of those days and I get myself a bouquet.  

It sits on the dining room table where I admire the bright yellow color of the bouquet.  As the flowers slowly open, I marvel at the passage of time and wonder what comes next.  

Sunlight, Warmth, and Daffodils

I’m in California right now, my second visit in so many months.  I came to see my family and to stay with my mom for a bit as she sorts out life without my dad.  I’ve missed the second patch of extreme cold in New Jersey by being in California in February and it must be said that I’d truly forgotten how beautiful my home town is at this time of year.  It’s been warm - mostly in the 60s - and there has been sunshine and skies clear enough to enable me to see the Sierra Nevada mountains nearly every day.  The daylight is lasting a bit longer with each sunrise and that’s been very nice as well.  

Spring is my favorite season, always.  The slow arrival of blooms and greenery feels like a yearly unearned miracle unfolding before my eyes; each day bringing us something new to admire.  Even a mild Winter, like the one we’ve mostly experienced in New Jersey this year, is cold.  As it drags on, I long for the easy days of warmer weather and my joy in the arrival of Spring is always unmeasured and unbound.

Being in California now is, of course, a respite from our cold.  That I’m here helping my mother to transition to life without her husband of 58 years is a reminder that our time on earth passes quickly.  But there is sunshine and daffodils have begun to bloom, two things my dad would have enjoyed, and I take comfort in that.

February 1 Flowers

 If there is one truth in my world, it's that flowers make everything better.  To say so long to the struggles of January, I brought home some pink tulips.

That's happy.

The Joys of April

After an especially hard week, I treated myself to a spa pedicure on Friday afternoon.  Today, while I sat on the front steps getting ready to put on my yard work shoes and cut the grass, I looked at my feet and realized that my summer flip flop tan line hasn’t faded out completely.

There’s something quite hopeful about such a revelation.  In my daydreams of late, I imagine day after day of flip flops and some real time off this summer.  Reservations have been made and my packing list is ready.  That is a most happy prospect for me to contemplate.  In the meantime, April has pink tulips.

Iris blooms.

And lush, green grass to be cut.  Here’s to the first mow of the season and to the many more to follow.