Hi there!
Time for part 2 in my 3-part series on our annual planting weekend (which happened a week ago).
Now first and foremost, I feel the need to throw a big fat disclaimer out there and tell you that my HUSBAND is the one that is the green thumb in our family. Over the years, he has certainly taught me a lot about gardening, but all in all, it will be him that will keep these plants alive all summer long. It will be him outside in the heat and humidity every night (or morning), diligently watering the plants while being eaten alive by mosquitoes!
When it comes to planting day, I pretty much just do what he tells me to do. Haha!! My strengths are more in the planning phase.....selecting colors of plants that will work well together, etc.3 We work together at the nursery, to decide what plants might be able to thrive in various locations around our yard and then I select things based on a design esthetic. But it is his blood, sweat and tears (well, mostly just sweat) that will keep these babies alive. LOL. On planting day, he does all of the major digging in the yard (we have hard clay soil here in Kansas), and I help plant all the pots. We planted a total of 25 pots and/or flower boxes on the deck in back this year, as well as 5 pots out front plus plants the front flower bed and a few random additions around the yard (like vinca ground cover in a little muddy spot) and a gorgeous new hibiscus at the corner of the house. Oh and a couple more little hostas to fill holes where a some didn't survive the winter. And the tomatoes!! We mustn't forget the tomatoes!! But those will get a blog post all their own!
So all in all, we had a full day of planting on our annual planting weekend. We shop on Friday night at the nursery and then plant all day Saturday.
These first shots are what we started out with. I laid it all out on the driveway so I could take pictures before we got started.
Once everything was in pots, it was time to add the Miracle-Gro and then water everything in. The watering is this little boy's favorite part! Can you see that his head's all wet? As soon as we turn on the hose, he tries to "bite" the water as it's coming out of the hose. It's pretty hilarious to watch. Silly puppy. Haha!
The next morning when the light wasn't so harsh, I went around and snapped pictures of everything in their new homes.
I think these are two of the plants I'm most excited about -- a bougainvillea and a fuchsia! I fell in love with bougainvillea years ago, when traveling. They just get so huge and lush and COLORful! I hope this one manages to do the same!
We had a fuchsia years ago, that didn't last long. But we finally decided to give it another try in a new location. Hoping this one thrives in our front flower bed. We'll see!
This year, we pretty much rocked planting day and got done a lot earlier than normal! But then, I think my pot planting skills are much improved and I was feeling a bit more confident and therefore, worked quicker. Yay for confidence in the garden!
So all of these plants have been in the ground for one week, and then last night, we had severe thunderstorms blow through! Grr. You'd better believe, I was praying for all of our plants! :) Looks like everything came through just fine, thank the Lord!
Stay tuned for "the tomato post".....where I'll share all the varieties we planted this year. It should be about 10 weeks till the first tomatoes are ready to eat. 1 week down, 9 to go!! Can you tell I'm a little anxious for the tomatoes?! :)
Hope you have a fabulous day, dear friends!
xo,
