Posies

A posy is small bunches of flowers, a tiny bouquet. I thought it was just a pretty way of saying flower. I am thinking of when I was a little girl, and the happy way I felt about sweet alyssum. I loved that they were plentiful, and how people didn't seem to pay them much mind. I could not go around picking someone's roses, cutting dahlias or gladiolas at will, but alyssum is abundant, it grows freely, here and there. Each stem is a posy, with dozens of teeny flowers, and as fragrant as a perfume, warm honey. They made me feel abundant, like even with a handful, I was filling all of my senses with as many posies as I pleased.

Our wildflower garden is full of posies! Well, maybe not full, exactly. We sowed the mixed seeds in poor ground, and counted on the rain and sun to do the rest. There are not many, but enough to fill my senses. Some flowers are blooming singularly, others in clusters, looking just like true posies of blossoms. I am tempted to cut them, to press some, keep some in vases. But there are so few, and what if it's their end? I want them to last all summer. Most flowers give more when they are cut, deadheaded. Besides, I can't always be outside to enjoy them. A few to bring inside would be so nice. I will definitely let them go to seed, and add mulch to the ground, then wait, expectantly, for next year's posies.