Summer's Silent Star

Ok, so summer is corn and tomatoes and basil, but it's also sweat, sand, laziness and zinnias. Oh yes, forgot the over-grown zucchini.

For some it's Nantucket or the Hamptons, but for me the humble zinnia says it all. Blooming from July through the nasty Ag Fairs in August I find it an honorable expression of lovely ordinariness. Vibrant colors, fragile stem, by the way -- though it looks tough to the uninitiated -- it's a timid reminder amidst some of the snazzier touchstones of the season.