Don't zinnias have such happy faces? For a simple flower they are extraordinarily intricate, from bud swell to their last legs.....their centres form an exquisite circle that changes subtly over a period of days, like a million flowers within a flower.  I find them enchanting.

And I was thinking, not for the first time, how lucky we gardeners are.....to be able to gather bucket loads of dried seed heads - the shells of flowers that were, holding all the promise of next season's bounty, in the one hand, and armfuls of bright, perky luscious petals in another. Delightful examples of joy and hope.  If only everyone could have a garden!  Happy Easter everyone...