As most gardeners know,
the best way to keep marigolds growing thick and full of blossoms
is to dead head the flowers that have finished blooming.
Sometimes I do this early in the morning,
but more often I enjoy dead heading them in the late afternoon,
after the heat of the day has gone.
There are some good reasons not to enjoy dead heading marigolds:
the strong odor, yellowed fingers, the multitudes of tiny "no-see-ums,"
little flying insects lighter than air and quicker than your ability to swat them away
as they rise from the flowers.
But this evening I could hear bees buzzing,
cardinals chirping, and the low whirring sound of cicadas in the woods.
Dead heading marigolds becomes meditation.
I collect the spent flower heads in a bucket
and then toss them into the woods where I can see them from my kitchen window.
A beautiful golden swath of yellow and golden orange blossoms
A beautiful golden swath of yellow and golden orange blossoms
brighten the otherwise dull tan and brown forest floor.
Marigolds as meditation--and as art.
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