Deck Flowers

This time of year, when the pots on the deck have started to fill in and everything is looking lush and hopeful, is one of my favorites. Granted, I miss all the first blooms of spring (which really is the most hopeful season) but the abundance we experience this time of year is reassuring in a different way.

I have to admit, I'm only indulging in flowers here. All I've put in the vegetable garden is a couple of tomato plants and a couple of cucumber plants. Mom used to point out the miracle of gardening when I was a child, when you had the ability to take a 29 cent package of cucumber seeds and just a few months later, have so many that you were handing them out to the neighbors and taking them to the office. One has only to go to the pick-your-own strawberry farm to witness the abundance. It's reassuring to me...Mother Nature says "just give me a little bit...just a small amount of attention and some water, and look what I'll return."

Here I am, rhapsodizing about abundant fruits and vegetables, and I'm going to show you flowers. Let me get to it... Here's a view down one side of the deck railing. I'm always happiest with a mixture of colors and textures, and nothing too matchy-matchy. If I can get some fragrance out of the deal, so much the better. The strawberry pot near the railing is filled with "million bells" in two colors, and each of the little side pockets has a different kind of sweet potato vine.

Another shot of the cluster of pots, with the strawberry pot elevated toward the back.

I'm especially pleased with this planting. It looks like a fiesta, with the orangey-red and yellow lantana, the pinks, and the portulaca.

A better view of the lantana, which is so vivid, next to the pale lavender and pale yellow petunias.

Today I added some New Guinea impatiens to the pot with the elephant ears, which has just begun to sprout. Note the iridescent purple Persian Shield plant - it has such an intiguing leaf.

Here's a better view of the Persian Shield, plus the licorice plant, and some of the sweet potato vines.

Here's a layered look with the Persian Shield leaf, the red-violet petunia in the back, and of course some of the foliage.

Here's a view of the railing on the other side of the desk. The ground down below the railing is loaded with hostas, daylilies, and a hydrangea that isn't blooming! See the bucket of hen & chicks?

We took a little break at McDonald's. I had one of their iced coffees, which I CRAVE regularly, and Gerry had a milkshake. When he was done, Cosmo made sure the cup was really empty.

After his little snack, Cosmo stood watch over the newly trimmed area below the deck. Or is he watching the pond in the distance?