The experts say that last month was among our coldest, snowiest Decembers on record. So, even though we’ve barely touched on winter, I’m ready for spring and summer.
My mother came from a farming family, and she and her siblings continued that tradition by having either vegetable or flower gardens, or both, as long as they were physically able to do so.
Although I don’t claim to have a green thumb by any stretch of the imagination, I do enjoy puttering around out in the yard in warm weather, and occasionally have a little luck with flowers.
So today, to help us get through this cold weather, I’m posting some pictures taken in warmer days.
Things were apparently going well in my flower-world when I took this photo of the flowers on our deck. The large white flower is a clematis. The other flowers are white bacopa, yellow pansies and red geraniums with white “Diamond Frost”.
Another year, that spot featured red geraniums, blue salvia and blue lobelia.
Portulaca is a favorite of mine. It’s so hardy – it loves hot, dry weather. So it did particularly well last summer. I found this little wagon at an antique shop, and had to buy it, since it has the word “Junior” on the side. (That’s Motor Man’s everyday nickname.)
Marshall gave me this hydrangea a few years ago for Easter. The blooms seem almost too large for the stems.
In this picture, there’s a large patch of vinca (which is also drought-tolerant and re-seeds itself), and portulaca in an old tea kettle.
In the flower boxes on our deck, I plant asparagus fern, begonias, and of course, portulaca.
This is a sweet potato vine that was particularly happy in its location. It’s another one of my favorites, but I have to be sure it’s away from the areas that the deer frequent: it’s a favorite of theirs too.
So, tell me. Did looking at these warm weather pictures help ease the bitterness of this cold winter for just few minutes? If so, my job is done.
these days of mine 