Looking out onto the deck I have a pretty nice view: I can see the morning glory climbing up my balcony and attaching itself to the net lights, four varieties of basil, a fancy-leaf geranium and healthy pots of heirloom tomato (bar one).

And when I look up at what’s attached to the railing I see lots of gorgeous flowers: petunia, Texas bluebonnet, lisianthus, lobelia, salvia, zinnia, lantana and several others.

Therefore, as you’d suspect I’m pretty pleased right now. But being so taken by all there was to appreciate in my immediate sight line, I neglected to consider that if I looked at things from a different perspective there might be a whole new bounty to appreciate.

I’d forgotten something I’ve learned during previous summers: giving my railing planter boxes a full turn during the season can expose previously hidden blooms for the eye’s delight.

One such delectable surprise on the other side was this brilliant blossom that I originally thought was cosmos “cosmic orange” because of the intensity of its orange color. I found it while hanging my arm out, camera in hand, over the rail, trying to snap another of my blossoms from a unique angle.

Discovering it created one of those moments where I actually gasped at the vibrancy of the color. And it seemed to make sense because the cosmos was one of the seeds I planted early on, but that I had forgotten about, since all the tags were washed away and there were no blooms on it when I put it in the planter.

[I’ve since been given reason to revise my identification (and this post), as a couple of you have pointed out that it looked a lot like a marigold. I agree, but since I didn’t plant an orange marigold, I’m a little stymied. Perhaps some seeds got mixed in my packets by accident… In any case the color is breathtaking!]

Another equally colorful bloom is this sky blue tweedia. I’d identified the leaf on several seedlings I can see looking out, but didn’t realize that one on the other side of the box had already sprouted. It is definitely the truest blue — with no hint of purple — among the seeds that have matured to flower. Wow!

So, as much as I’m enjoying the view from this side, these two discoveries make me wonder what other surprises are just out of sight.

Not unlike life.