I know it’s time to do the fall clean-up in the garden, but it’s so hard to cut back or pull up plants that are still blooming, even if the last rain storm beat them down and tipped them over.
![Library - 6803 Library - 6803](https://annalenaland.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Library-6803-450x337.jpg)
Yesterday was an absolutely glorious fall day.
![Library - 6808 Library - 6808](https://annalenaland.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Library-6808-450x337.jpg)
After taking full advantage of the extra hour we got from “falling back,” I headed right out to the garden.
![Library - 6810 Library - 6810](https://annalenaland.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Library-6810-450x304.jpg)
Well, after I checked with my neighbor and expert gardner, Melinda.
![Library - 6811 Library - 6811](https://annalenaland.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Library-6811-450x337.jpg)
She grows the most beautiful dahlias, and I wanted to know if it was okay to cut mine back now.
![Library - 6812 Library - 6812](https://annalenaland.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Library-6812-450x337.jpg)
But how can you cut back things that are still blooming???
![Library - 6813 Library - 6813](https://annalenaland.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Library-6813-450x337.jpg)
And even things that aren’t still blooming are still beautiful.
![Library - 6814 Library - 6814](https://annalenaland.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Library-6814-337x450.jpg)
This sunflower head is 20 inches across!
![Library - 6818 Library - 6818](https://annalenaland.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Library-6818-450x358.jpg)
And my little sunflowers are still showing some color.
![Library - 6820 Library - 6820](https://annalenaland.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Library-6820-450x288.jpg)
What’s prettier than yellow and blue?
![Library - 6822 Library - 6822](https://annalenaland.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Library-6822-450x310.jpg)
And what’s fresher than daisies?
![Library - 6824 Library - 6824](https://annalenaland.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Library-6824-450x322.jpg)
These line the whole west side of my vegetable garden.
![Library - 6825 Library - 6825](https://annalenaland.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Library-6825-450x337.jpg)
I remember sitting on the lawn at my grade school during lunch and making daisy chains from the daisies that grew wild in the grass.
![Library - 6828 Library - 6828](https://annalenaland.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Library-6828-450x275.jpg)
And later, when I was in high school, daisies were a favorite of the flower child generation.
![Library - 6833 Library - 6833](https://annalenaland.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Library-6833-450x313.jpg)
I still love them.
![Library - 6835 Library - 6835](https://annalenaland.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Library-6835-450x343.jpg)
On the north side of my parents home was quite a patch of big daisies that seemed to thrive on neglect.
![Library - 6836 Library - 6836](https://annalenaland.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Library-6836-450x337.jpg)
When they sold that house a few years ago, I dug up a few and they haven’t disappointed me a bit!
![Library - 6837 Library - 6837](https://annalenaland.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Library-6837-450x337.jpg)
Even my hollyhocks aren’t ready to say good-bye to summer.
![Library - 6848 Library - 6848](https://annalenaland.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Library-6848-450x337.jpg)
And this feverfew grows wild next to my compost pile. It got started when I tossed a commercial bouquet of flowers onto the pile last year. Instead of composting, it decided to sprout!
![Library - 6849 Library - 6849](https://annalenaland.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Library-6849-450x337.jpg)
Very high up on my favorites list are nasturtiums.
![Library - 6855 Library - 6855](https://annalenaland.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Library-6855-450x337.jpg)
Could it be because they are so easy to grow?
![Library - 6857 Library - 6857](https://annalenaland.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Library-6857-450x337.jpg)
Or because they cover so much ground?
![Library - 6851 Library - 6851](https://annalenaland.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Library-6851-450x347.jpg)
Or because they’re ORANGE–the most popular color in Anna Lena Land?
![Library - 6859 Library - 6859](https://annalenaland.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Library-6859-337x450.jpg)
Maybe. But, the long and short of it is, I didn’t cut back or pull up any of the flowers. I know with the next storm they’ll probably be goners, but until then, if they want to bloom, who am I to stop them?