There has been a patch of orange cosmos at 4th and Wilson in Royal Oak for the last seven or eight years. It’s nothing huge, just an extension to the larger bed in the boulevard, near the happy-hand-stand soldier statue.
The first year I planted, I cleared away a rusty pile of scrap iron to make the spot. My strategy was to turn an unsightly mess into pleasantry. Then it became fun to do something simple for the community. Folks seem to like and appreciate the flowers. Honks and waves. Folks stop to talk and compliment. I give flowers away. Some orange cosmos appeared closer to Main Street last year, and you can see them on my block. Here is an article about growing these hardy flowers.
2022 has been a nice moist spring and I thought my trip to the corner yesterday would be some weeding and a little spacing of the plants. But no. The flower bed had been mowed, just at the point it was starting to kick. This after two times of having the mower roll through the bed this spring.
I know the mowers are in a hurry and the flowers are hard-to-see at first. This isn’t the first chop-them-down year. Maybe there is no problem as long as I am willing to keep salvaging them. I really like them to look nice. But maybe I’m being too assuming per the city. I’m nothing official. That’s why I respectfully ask the question.
In St. Louis, I lived in a community where people in the neighborhoods took care of the flowers. and they were exceptional. But this is another day and place. Tomorrow I will complete the salvage effort, one last time. No problem.