Pride in zinnias

When I decided to plant seeds this year, I didn't really have a plan. I never tried growing anything from a seed...

My little labels got rubbed off in my mini greenhouse early on, prompting me to regard my experiment as "The Secret Garden," since I had no idea what anything was. All the seedlings looked alike and until they grew and had differentiating characteristics, I couldn't tell a cucumber from a sunflower.

The last plant to really give me clues to its identity was the zinnia. I didn't have much experience with zinnias anyway, so identifying one in its infancy was not happening.

But now they're in full bloom and they're the visual pride of my garden. The colors and sizes thrill me, and they're attracting the bees too! (My cucumbers hadn't been producing any fruit and I was worried, but I think the zinnias drew the bees towards my cucumbers because now I have a plethora of cucumbers-in-progress!.)