What to Do With Those Ugly Snapdragons Now That They’re (Almost) Dead?

maroon snapdragons arranged awkwardly in a green vase. photo by bf newhall — The snaps look even worse in a vase than they did in my garden. Here's arrangement number one . . .

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

It’s done. Those blood-red snapdragons are gone from our front yard. I pulled them out, and my rock garden is the better for it. But what do I do with the blossoms?

maroon snapdragons arranged awkwardly in an assymetrical glass vase. photo by bf newhall — . . . two . . .

I’d take them to my 92-year-old mother — except she doesn’t like maroon any more than I do. I can’t just toss them in the compost bin. They are trying so hard to live, to be the velvety, deeply colored snapdragons they were born to be.

I take pity and invite them into the house for their final days.

I look around for a vase. I try one, then another.

maroon snapdragons arranged awkwardly in a white glass vase. photo by bf newhall — . . . three . . .

I try a third. Nothing works. On the fourth try, the blossoms and stems arrange themselves artfully in a glass vase.

Jackie O used to say that a woman can’t be too rich or too thin. I say a woman can’t be too rich, too thin, or have too many vases.

Photos by BF Newhall

maroon snapdragons in a glass vase — . . . four. This works for me.

Note: The snapdragons are gone, and so is my mother.