July 15, 2025

Good morning!

It’s Tuesday, and another miracle is unfolding in a pot by the barn door. Ring by ring, row by row, the strawflowers are slowly opening their petals to the world. Only they aren’t petals at all, they’re bracts.

These firm, papery bracts act as bodyguards, protecting the central disc florets until they’re ready to bloom—at which point the bracts change jobs and become cheerleaders, flashing their Technicolor pompoms to attract passing pollinators.

But that’s not all. Once the dinner show is over, I’ll snip the flowers, wrap their stems in pretty string, and dangle them by their toes in the barn until they’re dry. Here, the strawflowers change jobs yet again, this time becoming an enduring uplifter of my own spirits—earning them their nickname, “golden everlasting.”

“Human subtlety will never devise an invention more beautiful, more simple or more direct than does nature because in her inventions nothing is lacking, and nothing is superfluous.”

—Leonardo da Vinci

Onwards,

Clara