This sweet little posy of zinnias was all the nicer for being a gift from Jim Rosenblatt. His official title may be Dean Emeritus of The Mississippi College School of Law, but he wears the unofficial title of Plant Enthusiast with the same self-depreciation and benevolent good nature.
Several years ago, he created a cutting / kitchen garden in an unused corner of the faculty’s parking lot. The soil is rich and crumbly now, after years of being tended, making the plot very productive. These zinnias were freshly gathered from there.
I wonder how many other people have benefitted from gifts of peppers, tomatoes, herbs and flowers from his car park plot? Many more will have their day brightened by spotting this city centre garden as they passed.
In a nod to Krista’s weekly photo challenge: experimental, I’ve added a process filter effect to the picture to give a nostalgic feel to these, surely among the most traditional of all annual flowers.
If you missed my recent post on annuals, you can read it here.
Susan Rushton 
I love zinnias. And I love the concept of a help yourself garden. There are help yourself herbs in our nearby town.
Herbs are perfectly suited to being help yourself plants aren’t they? One decent-sized rosemary plant could shared by a large community, all year round, provided they nipped off just the amount they were going to use. I frequently take a leaf or two from my Mum’s huge plant on my way past it, just to be uplifted by the scent. That’s herbal use, in a way!