Back door steps pots...

I received a very broad hint that I needed to do another blog post.  So today I am going to share with you the pots that are the bottom of the steps that lead to my back door.  The first one in on top of the retaining wall I built several years ago.

For this summer, it holds Lobelia (the blue one), Verbena (the red one) and Petunia (the yellow one).

I bought these flowers as a pre-made combo in a hanging basket.  I paid a pretty penny for them because 1)  they were a pre-designed combo 2) they were "locally grown"  3) they were in a hanging pot and 4) they were at an up-scale grocery market.

But I decided it was worth it because they were so pretty and were exactly what I wanted.

Just to the left of the above pot,  but sitting down on the path, is this little container.  The plant is an alpine geranium named "Charm."   It's new this year.  I've grown an alpine geranium in this pot for several years, but it finally died out.  I liked it so much that I wanted to replace it with the same thing.

Isn't it charming?

My yellow pot is against the house, right at the very bottom of the steps.  It's a hard place to get anything to grow well in the summer. However, last year I discovered that ageratum grows very well there.  And I like ageratum a lot, even though it is unassuming.

Finally, my big pot at the bottom of the steps.  It sits in the bed that goes along the pathway. A couple of years ago, I started growing herbs in this pot.  They do very well, not minding at all the hot afternoon sun.

This year, I have three different basils,  thyme, tri-color sage, and Cuban oregano.   And Nicotiana.   Nicotiana is a tobacco and all of the plant is poisonous.  Is it diabolical to put a poisonous plant in the middle of edible herbs?

Anyhow,  I like the effect.  The purple hues in the tri-color sage pick up on the reds and pinks of the Nicotiana.

And how 'bout that Cuban oregano!  It's thick and fuzzy and variegated.  Yes, it is usable, like other oregano, but apparently, it is much stronger. 

A variegated Lirope grows below that pot.   One of my sisters gave it to me several years ago.

Cemetery Sedum has planted itself in front of the Lirope.  I think they look very cool together.

And the whole combination looks very lovely.

Have a beautiful day!

Bloom Day January 2010...

Quite honestly, the only plants that are truly blooming are my beloved, cheerful Johnnies. Maybe that is cheating because if not tricked into blooming in the fall, they wouldn’t bloom until the spring.



But I am so thankful to have them. And they don’t seem to complain about being persuaded to flower throughout the winter for me.




The African violet my sister-in-law brought me at Thanksgiving is still blooming, so I think it is probably o.k. for me to take credit for keeping it going. Although, now that I have said that, it will probably stop blooming and then die.

{Saintpaulia}

I am starting to see leaf buds on many of my plants which gives me hope that spring actually will come this year. But there aren’t many flower buds yet. My camellia is one of the ones with flower buds.

{Camellia - I don't know the rest; I've lost the plant tag.}

The buds on this daphne will soon open to their fragrant white blooms.

{Daphne odora 'Alba'}

And you can already see the pink forming on this daphne.

{Daphne odora}

My Purple Rain pansies look a bit bedraggled, but they continue to struggle on. I guess winter is taking its toll on them as it is on me.

{Viola x wittrockiana 'Purple Rain'}

It finally warmed up enough that I was able to look into my greenhouse without fear of heat escaping and I was absolutely thrilled to find that everything is doing well. It was such a relief to know that my plants stayed warm enough not to be damaged while it was so cold outside. And I found a tiny pink bud!

{Erodium reichardii 'Charm'}

One of my pitcher plants has a bud on it. I think that is the bud I am most excited about right now.

{Sarracenia flava}

But my Johnnies continue to be my favorites as they unabashedly cheer me on through winter.


Have a beautiful day!