While the zinnias and cosmos in my three-tiered flower bed have been awesome this summer, I’m still waiting on the California poppies and gazanias in the top tier to flower.

The leaves on the flowers have grown a lot in the past week, but I’ve yet to see any buds. Both were planted about March 23. The seed packet for the gazania said 60-70 days to bloom; 40-50 days for the poppies. Given the rain we had in May and the fact that the packet says “thrives in dry heat,” I’m hoping the gazania is just a wee bit behind. Not sure if I’ll see flowers on the poppies at all, but I’ll continue to wait it out. It would be nice if a few of them bloomed and I could tell which is which. From the leaves on the packet, I can’t even tell right now, although I think the lighter green leaves are the gazanias, only because they’re smaller leaves and the gazania is supposed to be smaller than the poppy. But really, who knows?In the meantime, I’ll just enjoy the zinnias.