Just spent a few minutes dead-heading the marigolds in the
yard. Of all the summer flowers, that is
one of my favorites with their little sun spots of color and powerful perfume
that the bees and birds love.
To give the coming and current blooms the most energy from
the plant, the dying blooms can be removed in a process called
dead-heading. Just snip the bloom off
with your fingers. I go out and do that
every week or so, and that is when you will find my pockets full of marigold
flowers as I head back in the house to store my treasure through the rest of
the year and into the next spring. I
break up the heads so that the seeds can dry out and be stored. Then, after the most recent batch has dried,
it takes its place in a glass jar to be held until the new spring comes.
Seeing these summer blooms drying up can be kind of a sad
thought. It is a reminder of the opening
and closing of life chapters in general.
But, as I look at the pile of seeds ready to dry and be stored, I can’t
help but think of the perspective lesson marigolds share. Life does present us with opening and
closings, starts and finishes. The
starts and finishes can be nerve-wracking, happy, grief filled, and
joyous. Needless to say, I can go in
fits and starts with openings and closings that do not regularly occur in an
all smooth fashion. New things can make
me nervous, even when I’m excited about them.
And, some things I am very glad to see go, while others I miss very
much.
But, marigolds remind me of how these chapter lessons are
kind of like these seeds. The lessons can be dried out and stored for
later. Carefully preserved to be
re-planted later, as life seasons change, lessons will come in handy again. Planted in the next season, they not only
re-grow from the seed of that original plant, but produces new seeds as
well. Each season of planting and
building, all from one dried up flower head holding marigold seeds.
Blooms have been numerous in the yard this year; little
swirls and dabs and swaths of color that highlight their pots. They are a living painting, moving and
swirling over the yard. Rather than
writing about them, I thought I would share a few pictures. Try to imagine the birds singing, an occasional
cricket to hop about, the buzz of the bees, sounds and feels of the breeze, and
the warmth of the sun. 
To give the coming and current blooms the most energy from
the plant, the dying blooms can be removed in a process called
dead-heading. Just snip the bloom off
with your fingers. I go out and do that
every week or so, and that is when you will find my pockets full of marigold
flowers as I head back in the house to store my treasure through the rest of
the year and into the next spring. I
break up the heads so that the seeds can dry out and be stored. Then, after the most recent batch has dried,
it takes its place in a glass jar to be held until the new spring comes.
But, marigolds remind me of how these chapter lessons are
kind of like these seeds. The lessons can be dried out and stored for
later. Carefully preserved to be
re-planted later, as life seasons change, lessons will come in handy again. Planted in the next season, they not only
re-grow from the seed of that original plant, but produces new seeds as
well. Each season of planting and
building, all from one dried up flower head holding marigold seeds. 