Pretty Pots

Hear ye, Hear ye: This applies only to email subscribers. I am in the process of attempting to import all of you into a new mail server. If you receive an email from Mail Chimp regarding this blog, don't be surprised, and don't worry. At this point, even I'm not sure what's going to happen. Read it and do what it says, and we'll go from there. It will take some time to import all the addresses, and so I'll update when I know more.

The day went pretty much as expected yesterday. We called ahead to the garden center to see if they could accept payments. They could, and so we drove back to pick up the clematis we had our eyes on. It's sitting at the front door now, waiting for someone to plant it in the ground. There isn't much to see yet, but it has buds on it. It should bloom within the next month, I expect. After that, we did our grocery shopping, and then home. We had some lunch, and short naps, and then I got to work potting all the annuals purchased the day before.

In the three patio pots, I planted gerbera daisies, snapdragons, and calibrachoa (something new to me).

The snapdragons from years past usually come back each year. I'm afraid the winter ice storm killed them off, and so we started fresh.

Of course, we always include a scarecat. It does a terrible job keeping critters from eating the flowers.

In the pots lining the sidewalk, I planted geraniums. It's one thing the deer and squirrels won't eat.

Marigolds, because...no reason.

This is cyclamen...it's something I planted last year, and I was surprised to see it came back. It's sheltered under a fir tree, and so it had some protection from the ice storm. When it blooms, it will have pink flowers.

 

Finally, in my attempt to get something to grow in this shade-only-all-day pot, I'm trying impatiens. I needed a shade lover here, and the impatiens were Mike's suggestion. One would think after living in the house nearly 20 years, we'd have this figured out by now, but no. I've tried and tried and tried to get gerbera daisies to grow here. This year, I gave up and tried them in the pots where the sun shines.

Also, I caught a picture of the hanging pots. That far one hangs very near the catio. Hummingbirds visit and drive the kitties crazy.

While I was out this morning, I noticed more tulips ready to bloom. I expect these will be open by tomorrow.

Before we left yesterday morning, I paused to take a picture of the flowering plums lining the driveway. These were surprisingly undamaged by the ice storm, and now they are in bloom, looking so pretty.

Also, the red flowering currant at the edge of the woods is blooming. I feel very fortunate to have this Pacific Northwest native growing wild.

The white tulips are blooming. These are the only ones the deer won't eat, and so they are the only ones planted in the ground. All the other tulips are in whiskey barrels on the patios where deer fear to tread.

And this is my favorite daffodil. I've already posted a picture in a previous post, but you wanted to see it again, didn't you?

Oh yes, and the peonies are getting taller. The two on the far right and left are still just putting out shoots from the main root, and so there isn't much to see there. The one in the lower left corner of the image below has some tiny buds on it. That one in the upper right corner is the one that never bloomed last year. It went from bud straight to seed without ever producing a flower. Let's hope it performs better this year.

The cherry trees are getting ready to burst into bloom.

When we arrived at the garden center, I paused to take a picture of their pretty pansies planted on either side of their driveway.

So yesterday was all about the flowers, but I did get some hand-stitching done in the morning. I made a little more progress on this in the afternoon, but didn't get a picture.

Also, I turned the second corner on the Sundress binding.

And everyone had a good day because Smitty caught the first gopher of the season. Then he spent about an hour cleaning his nose and face.

It's impurrtent to look your best.

This morning, he's blissed out in the morning sun. It's the best time of the year in Smitty's world.

So it's going to be another nice day today, and warmer than yesterday. I'm going to get out and deadhead the hydrangeas, and pull a few weeks around some of the bulb flowers. Mike is getting ready to spray weeds, but I need to clear them out of some of the areas that can't be sprayed. No doubt there will be time for some slow-stitching, but in this weather, we're getting things done outside.