Several weeks ago - actually closer to several months ago now - we started our annual planting on the deck. I did this every spring at Crest Avenue and now I continue the tradition at Dewey Street. I like to get the new plants in as soon as possible so that we can enjoy a deck lush with greenery for our summer soirees. As soon as the weather is consistently warm, I start planting. Now, here we are in the last week of June. Hard to believe. The deck is looking spectacular. Take a look for yourself.
First of all, notice how clean the deck looks. We had it power-washed and sealed. This time we did not use a stain. Only a sealant. The natural wood is so incredibly beautiful.
What we have in the little black plastic pots from the nursery are marigolds and golden zinnia. These were a birthday gift to Steven from our dear friend Lea. They needed to be planted, so early on Sunday morning I set about doing just that. And yes, that is a shadow of my hands and my iPhone in the lower left side of the picture.
I found a suitably sized pot and a bag of Miracle-Gro potting mix and I was ready to get these babies planted.
Here is the end result. We had more marigolds than zinnia, so I filled the pot with a large grouping of marigolds and then placed the zinnia in a small grouping on one side. They will look nice clustered together like that once they mature. Better to group them like that than to put a zinnia here and a zinnia there. A zinnia here and a zinnia there will produce a sparse, unappealing look that will not be cohesive.
This large pot had a weeping something-or-other in it. I cannot remember what it was now. Steven bought it a couple years ago and it was healthy until last year. It was looking rather droopy in the fall and when spring arrived it did not come back. So we replaced it with this beautiful banana plant. Around the base we having groupings of pink begonia and asparagus fern. This is really beautiful and continues to send up new foliage almost daily. It loves the hot and humid weather. Believe me, it is in the right place for hot and humid weather. It is over ninety here today and with the humidity factored in it feels like one hundred five degrees outside. Welcome to Washington in summer!!!
Here, a cute little pot of pink begonia to bring some color to the deck.
This is a Christmas Cactus. It blooms so beautifully every year when we bring it inside for the winter season. It has little blooms on it now. However, I do not think it will fully bloom until later in the year.
Finally, the hanging fuchsia, which was the first thing I planted this spring. These can be difficult. Being in a pot suspended in the air leads to it drying out much faster than pots sitting on the deck. So you have to check the moisture daily. During the hot days of summer you need to water daily. If you do not, they will not produce new flowers and the foliage will turn brown very quickly. The good thing about fuchsia is they are forgiving. If you let it dry out and then start watering thoroughly and consistently, they will come back. Then there is dead-heading the spent blooms. By dead-heading you hasten new blooms to produce and it keeps the plant clean. Fuchsia require a lot of time and patience. They are extraordinarily beautiful so I figure all the attention is worth it. But if you are not given to pampering a plant on a daily basis, choose other, more hardy plants for your hanging basket.
Later this week we will visit our garden in the Earth Boxes. I think you will be shocked and surprised to see how well everything is doing. We will be harvesting before you know it.
First of all, notice how clean the deck looks. We had it power-washed and sealed. This time we did not use a stain. Only a sealant. The natural wood is so incredibly beautiful.
What we have in the little black plastic pots from the nursery are marigolds and golden zinnia. These were a birthday gift to Steven from our dear friend Lea. They needed to be planted, so early on Sunday morning I set about doing just that. And yes, that is a shadow of my hands and my iPhone in the lower left side of the picture.
I found a suitably sized pot and a bag of Miracle-Gro potting mix and I was ready to get these babies planted.
Here is the end result. We had more marigolds than zinnia, so I filled the pot with a large grouping of marigolds and then placed the zinnia in a small grouping on one side. They will look nice clustered together like that once they mature. Better to group them like that than to put a zinnia here and a zinnia there. A zinnia here and a zinnia there will produce a sparse, unappealing look that will not be cohesive.
This large pot had a weeping something-or-other in it. I cannot remember what it was now. Steven bought it a couple years ago and it was healthy until last year. It was looking rather droopy in the fall and when spring arrived it did not come back. So we replaced it with this beautiful banana plant. Around the base we having groupings of pink begonia and asparagus fern. This is really beautiful and continues to send up new foliage almost daily. It loves the hot and humid weather. Believe me, it is in the right place for hot and humid weather. It is over ninety here today and with the humidity factored in it feels like one hundred five degrees outside. Welcome to Washington in summer!!!
Here, a cute little pot of pink begonia to bring some color to the deck.
This is a Christmas Cactus. It blooms so beautifully every year when we bring it inside for the winter season. It has little blooms on it now. However, I do not think it will fully bloom until later in the year.
Finally, the hanging fuchsia, which was the first thing I planted this spring. These can be difficult. Being in a pot suspended in the air leads to it drying out much faster than pots sitting on the deck. So you have to check the moisture daily. During the hot days of summer you need to water daily. If you do not, they will not produce new flowers and the foliage will turn brown very quickly. The good thing about fuchsia is they are forgiving. If you let it dry out and then start watering thoroughly and consistently, they will come back. Then there is dead-heading the spent blooms. By dead-heading you hasten new blooms to produce and it keeps the plant clean. Fuchsia require a lot of time and patience. They are extraordinarily beautiful so I figure all the attention is worth it. But if you are not given to pampering a plant on a daily basis, choose other, more hardy plants for your hanging basket.
Later this week we will visit our garden in the Earth Boxes. I think you will be shocked and surprised to see how well everything is doing. We will be harvesting before you know it.
