The asters are the greenery in the back corner and won’t flower until September. But I couldn’t resist a title with blooms from A to Z. In the foreground are the first flowers of the zinnias my husband planted from seed packets at the end of June. Theoretically they are to be planted with spaces in between them and thinned out as they emerge. I prefer to have them scrunched together in a mass of various sizes, colors and varieties showing off in a willy-nilly arrangement.

Only in the bright heat of summer would such bold colors seem appropriate. It is fitting that they blaze forth for the end of summer and then die down allowing the more sedate asters to emerge. They cheer me immensely, in part because I grew up with a yard that never got enough full sun to grow them. My childhood yard was woodland, with ideal growing conditions for ferns, but not annuals.

Over the next couple of days I will share more of the fruits of my loving husband’s care of our yard. My only job is admiration, an assignment that comes very easily!