Morning Glory... Indeed!

Saturday morning I asked my wife if she'd care to join me to go check out the squash that we had planted in the bed in the side yard.  This bed earlier this spring had Irish Potatoes planted in it.  They didn't set the world on fire, but yielded enough, I guess.  We have been enjoying "Waffle House" style hash browns the past two weekends for breakfast that Tricia makes for us.  

After Irish potatoes, I planted purple hull peas in the bed.  They yielded fairly well.  We have been picking peas and shelling them on the regular.  Along with a feast for the taste buds and stomach, I planted something to provide a feast for the eyes - Zinnias!  I saved a bucket full of zinnia seeds after I dead-headed all the dried blooms from last year's zinnia crop.  Many came up volunteer from last year, too.  I planted the saved seeds alongside the purple hulls.  Zinnias are so colorful and cheer up the garden.

The variation in colors are nice.  Zinnias are a hardy plant - easy to germinate, easy to grow in both hot and dry conditions, too.  I learned that they are edible, though I have not tried them so I cannot recommend.  From what I read, they don't have much flavor, but can be added to pancakes and herb tea.  I'll be saving more zinnia seed for next year and will plant them thicker to brighten up things a bit.

But zinnias aren't the only flower in our garden.  We planted zinnias, but there is another flower that comes up on its own.  In these parts, it is considered a weed, but it certainly is a pretty weed.  I'm speaking of the morning glory.  This one came up in the side garden near the zinnias and the squash which we just transplanted.  It is a healthy little plant with vines that will take over the entire garden, if allowed to do so.

The flowers on this morning glory are a pinkish-lavender color.  You can see the spaghetti squash plant just to the right of the morning glory.

The morning glory was in the center of lots of activity on Saturday morning.  Butterflies were flying around and honeybees made their way in and out in search of nectar.

The vines were covered with flowers.  It lived up to its name on Saturday, adding glory to our morning.