Bruises, Bug Bites and Aching Muscles Signal a Return to the Garden

Three days of gardening are taking their toll on my body, but the gardens look great.  I worked on the planters on Thursday, finding plants at Paul and Sandy's Too and Jessica's Garden locally. I found some other plants at Lowe's--surprisingly.

It's Memorial Day weekend and I went with geraniums in this planter with a welcome sign. It goes well with the watering can my grandsons brought me last year.  My grandmother, Bido we called her instead of Violet, loved gerarniums --and my mother also.  They are a pop of color--and take the heat of the front porch which faces west and becomes an oven even in May. I had to remove the pansy planter to a shady spot under the deck for the summer.  The flags can stay for Flag Day in June and the Fourth of July--and my grandson's 12th birthday on July 5th.

I used the same planter from last year on the front walk but replaced the soil.  I used the Miracle-Gro Moisture Control potting soil because this planter also takes the afternoon heat. I hope it makes a difference in its watering needs.  I sometimes had to water it twice a day last summer.  I used Black Velvet petunias, Soprano White Osteospermum, a Proven Winner, Diamond Frost, another Proven Winner, and Superbells Plum Calibrachoa, also a Proven Winner. The Superbells look like small petunias but are not sticky, take the heat and bounce back right after rain. Hooray! 

I added a trailing fuchsia I found at Paul and Sandy's.  It has yellow-green leaves with red veins and stems. I couldn't find much about it online. The sign at P&S2 said it had insignificant bloom with foliage interest.  I chose it to pick up the yellow-green of the groundcover Creeping Jenny growing at the corner of the house and to harmonize with the red of the geraniums on the porch. I also added a deep red (almost black) and white and green and purple coleus to fill in the middle ground. Can't wait to see the planter fill out through the summer!

I added a little bit to the planter between the garage doors. I made this planter with Cathy Testa several years ago. She has an entire planting system with special soil and moisturizers --and often uses tropicals.  I no longer have the original banana plant, but the chocolate grass still grows in the pot. The planter was the source of all the Creeping Jenny I have in the other beds around the house. I added a heuchera and a chyrsanthemum last year which still look great this year.  I put another trailing fuchsia in the pot and some moss rose or Portulaca.  It is an old-fashioned plant but it can take the heat and the spikey leaves and its trailing habit gives texture to this almost monotone planter --and some color since I bought a six-pack of variegated colored plants.  No blooms on them yet. They were tiny (far left in front of the fuchsia).