Annuals are Planted

It was almost too warm in the sun when I was out planting my annuals.  It's good to have that done, however.  The winter kill is so bad this time of year, and so it's always nice to get some flowers planted to liven things up a little.  These petunias don't look like much now, but in a month or so, they'll be cascading over the sides of these hanging pots.

We used to spend a lot of money to buy the ones that were "pre-cascading" for us.  Then, one year I decided to try planting them myself.  Honestly, they grow so fast, it doesn't make sense to spend nearly ten times as much to save a few weeks of growing time.  These hang outside the kitchen greenhouse window so I can enjoy them every morning.

I planted snapdragons, dahlias, pansies, and alysum in the patio terra cotta pots.  Sadly, the terra cotta pots get broken in the winter and bits of them start falling off.  We've replaced these before.  They aren't so bad this year that we can't get another year of use out of them.  When we replace them again, we'll go with plastic, which should hold up better to the temperature changes.  I do love the real terra cotta, however, and  hate to give it up.

As an example, these walkway pots are all plastic, and they've been here since before we moved in 11 years ago.  Clearly, plastic is a better, if less earthy choice.  I planted geraniums in the first one.  I used to plant the petunias here until the squirrels developed an appetite for them.  Now the petunias are hanging where the squirrels can't get into them.

The next pot down the way has marigolds.  The geraniums and the marigolds will grow and fill in these big pots.

And the next one has gerbera daisies and a plant called a "nemo".  I'm not really familiar with them.  The gerbera daisies don't do a very good job of filling in their pot, so I decided to try another kind of plant with them.

So that was my planting for the day.  There is another one of these large plastic pots along the walkway.  I planted dianthus there several years ago, and it has completely filled in and returns every year.  When it blooms, it is really beautiful.  Right now, it's just green stems.

But the bleeding heart is in bloom now.

And this Pieris Japonica below is now in full bloom.  So...did you catch that name?  (Polishes fingernails on shirt.)  Thanks to Quilting Babcia and KatieQ for telling me the name of it when I claimed ignorance in a previous blog post.  I'm not claiming anything other than ignorance now, but maybe I'm just one plant name less ignorant than I was ten days ago.

These white flowers below are covering our Italian prune plum tree now, and it is absolutely humming with bees.  This makes me very happy since my quest is to grow enough plums to make plum chutney.  So far, I haven't had much luck, but the danged tree tends to bloom when it's raining and there are no bees around.  Last year I told it to get with the program.  Clearly, it was shaking in its roots at the time and has cleaned up its act.

The dogwood below is starting to bloom too.  It has a lot of flowers on it this year.  Usually just a tiny part of the tree will bloom, and it's been quite a disappointment up until now.  Ours is always about a month behind the ones in the valley...which are beautiful right now.

This little purple azalea is starting to bloom too.  As I looked at the plant this morning, I realized it is more dead than alive.  I don't know if the frost got to it, or it just isn't happy in its life.  In any case, it needs some work.  I'll need to cut all the dead stuff out of it and hope it starts looking better.  The flowers in the image below look sort of pink, but they are actually a fairly dark lavender.

And this bold pink one is almost in full bloom now.

The wisteria growing above the front porch is ready to burst into bloom.  It is so pretty when it is all covered in cascading flowers.

My little buddy was following me around all the while that I was outside, but he was hanging out in the shadows.  He seemed too warm in the sun.  Gracie hung out first on the outside of the door, wanting in.  Then, upon being let in, she hung out on the inside of the door, wanting out.  What she really wanted was for everyone to come in.  Now she's happily curled up in the chair of my office.  Thank goodness I sat down to write a blog post so she could rest her weary paws.