Marigolds and Morning Glories

From childhood, I have loved the beautiful look of morning glories and the distinct scent of marigolds.  I didn't have a particular hankering to garden as a little girl, but I did experiment with morning glory seeds one summer and was thrilled with my success.  Each morning, I would check my morning glories, watching one vibrant blue bloom after another as the vines climbed the wire fence outside our kitchen door.  These days, I don't grow morning glories, but I do grow and still enjoy the scent of marigolds.  Every time I dead-head a marigold, I automatically sniff my fingertips, taking in the heady and distinct aroma of each marigold bloom.  This year, I've commingled herbs with flowers in two pots near our front door because I love the taste and scent of parsley and especially basil.  The basil has really taken off and, for the first time in years (knock on wood), the basil leaves have been left untouched by Japanese beetles.  In previous years, the beetles would destroy them, leaving only lacy leaves in their wake.  Several years ago, I finally gave up and bought my basil at the farmer's market or gratefully accepted it as a gift from my dear friend Kitty.  This year, I've been joyfully snipping basil leaves every week from my own front-door pots, adding them to our medleys of vegetables from the farmer's market. It's the end of July and there's still a lot of summer growing season left to smell and taste.