picking zinnias for Mrs. Parker

Asparagus fern

Rabbit foot fern

Fish bone orchid cactus

Professional gardeners may have been men in ages past,

but women have tended to the home and kitchen gardens.

Savory herbs and vegetables to make a tasty feast for a hungry family.

Chives with purple blossoms bouncing at the kitchen doorway

teepees of scarlet runner beans,

 orange carrots hidden away and crooked-growing under the warm earth.

Flowers were a way to bring beauty to the season.

Honey bees buzzing through the snapdragons

and roses climbing lazily over a porch railing.  

Ferns in the shady spots and cornflower bachelor buttons

like a sunnier place. 

Here and there a jar of zinnias makes it's way 

onto the little table in the hallway

 a vase of tiny tea-cup roses set upon the bathroom sink.

In this way a house is made a home.

A woman's touch brings beauty and joy

and there are few things more beautiful

than the sight of a woman tending a garden.

She has a straw hat askew on her head

and a bit of dirt under her fingernails,

as she creates a fragrant offering for the family she loves.