Zinnias 6 days Out

I have to admit that a lot of the thrill behind bringing home flowers from the garden right now is studying how long they last, learning how to condition them best (for me a night in the fridge after harvest) and figuring out what the optimum time for harvesting is. Maybe that's because my roots in gardening began with vegetables and my tendency is to see what I grow as a crop for harvest. The smallest zinnias here were barely blooming when harvested, the petals just narrow blades, and I thought maybe they would open fully and last longer in the vase because I picked them so young. And so far they have, but it's also cooler now and they probably survived the ride home better too. I still daydream about farming, both vegetables and flowers, but in the meantime, I spend my time paying attention to the plants I'm growing and the ones I pass, and how they do in each season.