Can you spot the salad in this collection from the garden?

See the soft waves of green on the right?  Yep.  That’s lettuce.

I found it in the compost bin, bolted and wilting – but the loveliest shade of, well, lettuce green.  “What the hell,” I thought.  “It’s so pretty.  It’s part of the garden today.  I bet it just needs a drink.”

And I picked it out of the bin and brought it home.

After a few hours soaking in a wastebasket full of cold water, its sumptuous ruffles revived just like you would after a nice dip on a hot summer day.  It was every bit as tender and juicy as I hoped it would be.  (No, I didn’t eat it.  Don’t get me wrong.  I ate some squash I rescued from the compost bin last summer and lived to tell the tale.  But you can’t peel lettuce.  So, no.)

These are almost the last of the lisianthus – and the first of my seed-grown dahlias is peeking out from behind the zinnias, its yellow petals streaked with red, like summer flames.  I love it!