I Must Be Turning Into An Old Softie!

In addition to the Lemon Queen Sunflowers I planted in the garden, I planted another flat of flowers that we planted just outside the garden on either side of the bridge leading into the vegetable garden.  I got some assorted Zinnia seeds from Southern Exposure Seed Company.  I had seen zinnias bordering a vegetable garden in South Lake Charles when I used to commute that way and figured I'd do the same this year.

About a week ago we planted the seeds into some seed starting mix on the back patio.  The warm weather made the little plants leap from the soil.  They've really grown quickly and are actually kind of "leggy" as they stretch out to meet the sunshine.  There is a solitary Genovese Basil seedling in there as well that we'll transplant into a terra cotta pot and leave on the back patio for convenient access to the kitchen.

Zinnias & Basil

Father's Day proved to be a beautiful day.  After lunch and relaxing coffee and chocolate time, I asked if Tricia, Russ & Benjamin would come help me plant the zinnias.  I had a perfect spot for them picked out.  We have a spot between the house and the garden gate and pasture gate that Tricia calls "The Grove."  It is a shady area under the pecan tree and water oak trees that provide shelter from the sun to Big Boy as he digs his numerous holes.  The trampoline is in that area as well and it has provided hours of fun for our kids and the neighbor's kids.

I lined the low spot or swale with cinder blocks to keep the soil from eroding away in rains that is loosened from Big Boy's incessant digging.  While the cinder blocks has proven to be successful in stopping erosion, I always cringe when walking by as I think that it is an accident waiting to happen.  Someone could step into the holes of the cinder blocks and break an ankle.  Then a synapse fired in my brain and a light bulb went off.  Why not fill in the holes with potting soil and plant the zinnias right in there?  So that's what we did.

Flower Power

We planted zinnias in about half of the holes before we ran out of plants.  From what I read, it is very easy to save zinnia seeds, so if we are successful, I'll save a bunch of seeds and we'll have more than enough to fill all the holes next year.  This year we'll plant in 12 of the holes on either side of the bridges.

Benjamin & Russ helping out their old Dad

In addition to the ease of saving seeds, zinnias are mighty colorful, drought tolerant and heat tolerant since they thrive in the southwest, and they are low maintenance.  That's a good thing.  We'll see if zinnias can change my old rule that I only plant things that you can eat.  ETA: I just Googled and found that zinnia flowers are indeed edible and are most often eaten in salads or in tacos.  Gotta check this out.  I'll post an update when they bloom and when we feast on the flowers...