Negligence: A Practical Gardening Lesson

I'm really glad I took some pictures of my zinnias last week before we had a frost...

I looked around my yard, and thought, "my flowers are doing amazingly well."

Especially considering we are in a drought and I haven't watered since August...

I don't even know where these Vincas came from.  In midsummer of last year, they suddenly began to grow in the rocks by my house.  I had just a few last year, but as you can see, they are quite plentiful this year!

Obviously flowers planted at the base of trees don't fare so well when one does not water them.  Apparently the tree saps all of their water away.  Of course, the statement "planted" is misleading.  When we moved in there were zinnias and marigolds in the back yard.  I left them be, and when they had a dried bloom, I scattered the seeds at the base of various trees.

This is a great, inexpensive way to have lovely annuals become perennials.  It does require some patience, as you don't have beautiful blooms in May when all of the stores have flowers for sale.

They seem to do best in beds near the house or shop.  Please forgive the unsightly trash can.  I really haven't quite mastered how to make a trash can aesthetically pleasing.

These poor mums have had a hard life.  They were eaten completely to the ground by Holly (the puppy we never speak of...) They came back up this summer, and I moved them to another flower bed.  They were quite lovely until Chesney decided they made a great bed...

My jalapeno's decided to have fruit on them for the first time all summer...

And it's actually fall.

Sadly, my tomatoes are just sad and dried up...

Please disregard the child on top of the table.  She was up their whacking the sun shade fabric trying to convince Oliver to climb down so she could pet him.

For some reason this action failed to derive a loving snuggle from him...

Oh, and disregard the piles of dirt on my deck.  Chesney dumped over a flower pot and scattered the soil all over.

So in closing: The expert gardening tip I have for you is this:  Let your zinnias and marigolds dry up.  Scatter the seeds in every available pot and flower bed you have... By mid summer you will have gorgeous flowers all over, until the first frost!