I’ve never been very good at weeding, and deadheading flowers really hasn’t been my thing either. Until this year, that is. About 10 days ago, I deadheaded the zinnias in my flower beds. But the hot, dry weather the last couple weeks has them drying out fast — even with watering every day. So before the heat kicked in today, I got my butt off the couch and did another really good cleanout.

First I pulled all the dead cosmos plants, clipped back the zinnias that had seen better days and removed as many dried leaves as possible from the stems of the zinnias that still have some life in them. That left me with plenty of room to finally transplant the zinnias I started in peat pellets at the beginning of July.

Since I didn’t have enough transplants to cover the entire area of the lowest bed in the three-tiered bed, I took the opportunity to spread some of the seeds I’ve been saving over the past few months. I then cut up into smaller pieces a big chunk of the dead flowers I pulled and spread them around the lowest bed. I’m hoping the extra layer of bedding will help with the heat that doesn’t show any signs of letting up for at least a couple weeks (probably more since this is Texas and it is August). Hopefully it won’t prevent the seeds from sprouting or the transplants from developing. I probably should have cut it into smaller pieces. I guess I can always pick it out if it becomes a problem.

Oh, and I got everything done and cleaned up before 10 a.m. – just in time to see the temperature hit 90. Getting an early start really did help me beat the heat.