Saturday, March 19, 2016

Almost time to plant!

Today is the official opening of the local Farmer's Market. It has been open for a few weeks but today is the big opening. It's been warm here lately and it got me in mind to do some container gardening again.

I used to do a lot of container pots on my deck when I was in Maine. I actually spent a lot of time and money arranging my outdoor habitation, which is funny, because it is so cold for so much of the year. At my apartment on the second floor there was a deck off the living room. The landlords lived underneath me and used the patio under the deck like a gazebo for shade. I liked the sun so I made use of the outdoor space. I bought plants in their pots at a good garden store. But all the furniture came from the dump. We had a good dump and you were allowed to pick. The table, the folding trellis, the wicker chair, wicker table, barrel, and the plant holders all were dump-picked. The plants were expensive enough! I bought them all full grown and the pots too.






Then I moved to Georgia and my apartment was again on the second floor. The deck was not as large as the deck in Maine but it was solid and new and I decorated it with plants.





And even the lobby and the very steep stairs coming up-


After about a year, I moved to the apartment I've been in now for nearly 9 years. There is no deck but there is a patio. I am on the first floor. However, I lost interest. I think it's because there were so many pretty bushes and flowers all around.


Pathetic, right?

After a few years of just not doing much with potted plants, I am getting the urge again. I made a big change outside. A big change. I moved the table. That's right, you heard me. I moved it from between the ell to just in front of my door. In so doing, it hides the pots which had been lined up along the front wall, so I moved them out along the curve of the walkway. It nicely defines the space.



My plan is to get soil and seeds weekend after next when the threat of frost is all gone, and plant. We'll see how it goes. It might be too awkward to have the plants there or it might work out. I know I like the table and chair in that spot because it gets more sun. It's kind of hard to dress up concrete but I'll do my best!


5 comments:

Grace to You said...

Glad to see you again! :)

You know what's weird? I saw the first picture after just reading the title of your post, and at first glance I thought you had already started moving some plants outside this spring. After a moment of thinking that, I knew that it was not a picture of the south. The landscape in Maine is so dark green, and pine trees in the south, abundant though they may be in some areas, are not as dark, and they're not as thick either. It's strange how different things look in the two areas.

Out here in Golden we're lucky to see a pine tree at all. :) Thankfully, a 5 minute drive west takes us into pine-covered mountains so I can get my fix while running errands.

We got 6" of snow yesterday! :)

Elizabeth Prata said...

SNOW!!!! I'd rather set my hair on fire! Yes I agree, the pine trees and other foliage up north is so dark green. It took me a while to get used tot he different foliage here. Especially the fall, the colors are pretty drab compared o up north but the people here are in love with the colors. I guess it's all in what you're used to

Anonymous said...

I love outdoor spaces! I'm getting the urge to do some stuff in my backyard as well! :)
Jennifer

Grace to You said...

We had an honest-to-goodness blizzard here on March 23...a foot of snow, high winds, low visibility, roads closed, tree branches down...it was impressive.

Elizabeth Prata said...

Wow, horrors! I hope the snow melts quickly to make room for flowers!