I love summer in St. Augustine, I do. I love the free concerts on the pier every Wednesday, free concerts in the plaza every Thursday, the movies on the bay, our free margarita nights, Mike’s homemade ice cream (you do know that in July, August and September we have Mike’s homemade ice cream every Wednesday, and our famous margaritas every Thursday, don’t you?)
But still, as much as I love hot sand and the cool ocean, I am a little sad when spring passes. Oh, it’s not any existential crisis. I know the problem: it’s my snapdragons.
This year, I planted over 100 snapdragons in our beds in chilly February. They hung in there through the cold nights, and quadrupled in size (and blooms) by late March. I showed some of our littlest guests why they call them snapdragons (you know, don’t you? Because when you pinch them at the base, they open like dragon mouths). People stopped to take pictures of them as they walked past the inn. I planted them in two of the containers we entered in the Flowers for la Florida program.
But now that the heat is creeping in, they’re looking a little tired. And brown. And I really need to pull them out this weekend. Our flowerbeds won’t be bare–the hibiscus planted next to the snaps are getting huge and are ready for their day in the sun.
That’s the cycle: we’re planted, we grow, we bloom, and eventually we have to leave for the next round of beauties to take our place. Wait…maybe this is an existential crisis after all.
Or maybe I am just going to really miss this beauties (thanks to Bethany Walter for sharing her photos–you can see more of her work at www.bethanywalterphotography.com):
