Friday, August 28, 2009

Sunset Giants

And they really are. Beautiful Sunset Giant marigolds in the brilliant colors of the sun going down. I've never seen marigolds this tall. We were expecting your ordinary, garden variety, 6- to 8-inch tall marigolds. But were we ever wrong! Some of these beauties are easily 3 feet tall. And the colors! Oh the beautiful golden oranges and yellows. I bought the seeds without really paying much attention to what the packet said. My first clue should have been the name, Sunset Giants. But, hey, who reads all of that? Not me. I just knew they were marigolds and I love marigolds. And the packet cost $.89. So I bought them, took them home and promptly forgot them.
One day Saint Gene decided the front flower bed could use a little redesigning so he cleared it out and installed the little bubble pot fountain I had bought (a year ago). We decided it was time to try some of the Knockout Roses we had been reading about so I headed off to the nursery and bought three cute little rose bushes (the key word is "cute"). And Saint Gene planted them. They really looked good - and still do - but the location needed something more. So Saint Gene found the little packet of marigold seeds and sprinkled them out over the bare spot in the front of the flower bed, covered them lightly with topsoil and sprinkled them in. Nothing. No plants. But then one day we saw a tiny green sprout. And then another one. And another one. And they started growing. And growing. And growing. We were convinced the seed packet had contained the wrong kind of seed. But then they started producing flower buds and finally flowers. And I do mean FLOWERS!! They are gorgeous. They are so in the wrong place and yet so in the right place. They hide the bubble pot fountain, they hide the roses and they definitely hide the lantana. But they would outshine everything else in the area anyway and you can see them all the way to the end our street. And at sunset, when the light outside is dimming into night, they glow!

And we still have half a packet of seeds left to try next year!!

Joy Journal:  Hummingbirds at our feeders.

1 comment:

Odd Chick said...

those beautiful marigolds look like someone just waded up a bunch of orance lace and glued it to a green stem.

i'm still dancing around because you wanted the painting and it will go in the mail tomorrow. A close friend called me this morning and said she wanted to buy it for her sister! I was amazed the young lady got such attention. But I'm glad she's going to your sweet home.