Kissing Flowers

I know nothing about gardening. I have been enjoying it though. This summer I have taken more joy and satisfaction in gardening than I ever have. In July I bought some annuals from the sale racks at home depot that looked rather past their prime, so I purchase only a few, but spent very little. I continue to be amazed at how well they have done, and vow to take more risks at the sale rack next summer.

My gardens are young and the flowers are not quite as abundant as a more mature garden's is. But with these annuals, Zinnias to be specific, I feel free to pick from them, as it seems that 2 flowers replace each one that I pick.

And today, I picked several, with Jasper by by side, helping. As I picked them, I handed each one to him to hold until he was clutching a small bouquet in his small hand. With the other, he carried a stick he'd found on the way through our gate, which he called an airplane stick because of the branches coming off of it like the skeleton of wings. We had just come home from a short walk, where I had picked another small bouquet of dahlias, butterfly bush and cosmos. We had been in the back yard arranging them in a small vase. I trimmed them and he put them into the water. I asked him to be careful so that the vase would not fall. In reply to my request he gently kissed each flower after he placed it in the vase. Once the arrangement was made he exclaimed at how beautiful it was. I suggested that we go up front and get more to add to it, and he excitedly led the way. The end result is a rich and vibrant array of deep purples, pinks, yellows and oranges that now sits in the middle of our dining room table.

Even when the house is a wreck, I like to have this table cleared of everything save a vase of flowers. And I have managed to pick flowers each week for just this purpose. It has only been in the last few weeks that Jasper has wanted to help with the flower arranging. Though he appreciates flowers regardless.

I've always loved flowers and have always found pleasure in picking and arranging them. My mother always had flowers in her yard and in summer, my chore was to pick and arrange some inside. I also love butterflies. There is a quote by Rudolf Steiner that a flower is a butterfly chained to the Earth and a butterfly is a flower set free. I love how true this seems. In my garden I mainly see little white butterflies and small brown ones. Jasper notices them too. I rarely see Monarchs. But today we saw one, drinking nectar from the red flowers in the window box on our front porch. I picked Jasper up to let him look at it more closely. It seemed we watched it for an eternity. I told him to be very still so as not to scare it off. I told him that they fly to Mexico.