goodbye old friend - take two

in the spring, i planted cosmos in seed form in memory of our beloved cat abe who passed away. i loved the idea that their yellow and orange blooms would recall abe's powder-coated orange fur and that we'd enjoy them all summer while we enjoyed the outdoors and all the birds and squirrels he always loved to look at.

because it was my first experience with planting flowers from seed, i was very patiently awaiting their bloom, but they never even really grew into stems, never mind full blooms. in fact, what there was in the way of stubby green sprouts a few weeks ago have since gone away, maybe from all the rain. the morning glory seeds i planted nearby weeks after the cosmos are growing inches and inches, so i am taking that as a sign that something with the cosmos is just not right.

this morning, i decided to dig up the wannabe cosmos and plant a perennial flowering vine my father gave me from a fellow green thumb neighbor. it's not flowering yet, but i have a good feeling about it. because my soil is pretty rough in that spot, i dug into it significantly and broke it up while creating a hole (this also improves aeration in the soil). because the plant had been in a plastic pot for a couple weeks, it was very well molded in that shape, so i was sure to break it up at the bottom before i put it in the ground, otherwise it wouldn't properly root or receive nutrients.

while i was planting it, it felt nice to know that it will come back every year, and be a part of our lives, always there. just like our memories of our beautiful orange friend.