Solstice: Zinnias, Bad News, Home for the Holidays

Yesterday, I finally pulled out the dried-out stalks of the zinnias, some 6 feet tall, that delighted me this summer and into the fall. I waited for a long time to do this, because I’m hoping that their seeds have fallen out of the dried flowers and will come up again in the spring, which, right now, seems like forever from now. I filled the space left by the zinnias with winter greens: collards, mustards, Asian greens, beets, and chard. Yesterday, my beds looked spent, crowded, tired. Today, they look hopeful, optimistic, full of potential, spacious. And all it took was a slight change of perspective and a willingness to pull out some stalks that had done their part to make room for something new. It’s easier in a garden, isn’t it?