As I mentioned before, I have a
brown thumb, primarily since those pesky plants demand regular watering. And yet, this year at least, I managed not
only to place colorful flowers and plants in front of our house, but also to
keep them alive since April, verging on record territory for me.
So how have I done it? Through a good nursery, research, technology,
serendipity and one bad habit.
The nursery that I like to use is
about 45 minutes away and called The Potting Shed. (In a small town, almost everything is about
45 minutes away.)
The Reiger begonias (the pots
with the red flowers) and the caladiums (the plants with the colorful leaves)
came from The Potting Shed and have done remarkably well.
Research involved figuring out
where to put what plants, since our front yard has limited shade areas. The begonias and the caladiums love
shade. Too much sun kills them. Yet other flowers such as the zinnias and the
geraniums love sun.
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| Zinnias |
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| Geraniums - between the two rosebushes |
The technology we’ve used is both biological and
mechanical. The biological technology consists
of the rose bushes you see in these pictures.
These are called “Knock Out Roses” (I think), perfect for people like me
because all they need to thrive is to be left alone. I can do that quite well.
The mechanical technology is nothing earth-shattering—a set
of plastic sprinkler heads that connect in a line and hook to a garden hose on
a timer. But the contraption keeps the
plants watered and happy.
Serendipity raised its head when we discovered that a calla
lily had been reborn in a pot we cast aside a year ago. Calla lilies are elegant. And they must cling stubbornly to life for
this one to come back.
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| Calla Lily |
And the bad habit?
The one flaw in the watering plan is that it can’t cover the two plants
by the front door. There’s no way to get
the hose over there without stretching it across the driveway or entryway, and
it looks bad. However, every day when I
leave work, I stop by the local Zaxby’s and get a drink for the drive
home. They always put a lot of ice in
the drink, and I finish it long before I reach the house. So when I reach the house, I pour the ice
into the two plants by the door and throw my cup away. You wouldn’t think it would be enough, but
they like it.
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| Front Porch Plant - No Clue What Is Is |
The only thing I regret is that the landscaping in the front
of the house doesn’t provide me with an area to sit and read. I guess that will be a project for the back
yard next year.
So fellow brown-thumbers of the world, take heart! With a little planning, even we can maintain beautiful
landscaping.
