It’s Wednesday, which means I try to do all the dead-heading in my flower beds and trim the roses and cut the drooping daisies because tomorrow the trash truck comes to haul debris away.
Tonight I notice that some of my flowers are spent. They’ve bloomed to their highest and are now becoming spindly and thin. The impatiens are the most affected. But I see signs in other flowers as well: the geraniums, the zinnias (which are always a challenge), the black eyed Susans. It’s only the first week of September, but prime has passed.
It makes me sad that my flower beds look drab this early. Still, I’ll wait another week or so before pulling out the dead stuff. When I do, I’ll begin working the soil for next spring.
Perhaps really competent gardeners plan their gardens so that fall flowers begin to bloom as summer’s foliage fades. I’m not that good at it. I do notice my chrysanthemums look hale and hardy. But I have only four of them, and they are planted on top of each other so they look like big bushes instead of incoming floral beauties.
I love gardening, but am grateful I live where there are four seasons, which gives me a respite from the work. I wouldn’t want to be mowing and weeding and dead-heading every month of the year. So while I bemoan the dying summer plantings, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
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