This time of year, the Black-Eyed Susans along the front of our Knoxville house don’t look like much. The gold petals are gone, and what’s left are dark, dry little heads on brown stems. Most people would cut them down and call the season over.
But every one of those heads is full of seed. The part that looks finished is the part that makes next summer possible.
Out at the farm, there was a stretch of field we mowed for years without realizing Black-Eyed Susans were growing there. This year we let it grow long enough to bloom, and it turned into thousands of them. Then we mowed it again, on purpose this time, to spread the seed so it comes back even fuller.
I keep thinking about how much of a flourishing life works that way. Some of the best things were there the whole time, waiting for us to stop cutting them back. And the seasons that look like an ending are often the ones getting the next thing ready.
So if you’re in a season that feels a little brown around the edges, don’t be so quick to cut it down. There may be more in it than you think.
Jules & Lane
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This letter first went out to our readers in the Country Living Connoisseur on September 17, 2026. The full issue has the garden and farm kitchen sections too. Want the next one? Pull up a chair and join us here.
Written by
Lane and Jules Morris
Authors and University of Tennessee faculty writing from our farm in East Tennessee about gardening, the farm kitchen, faith and designing a flourishing life at any age. More about us
