Ready and Waiting.....until next year

Photo by Chris Everard

I'm ready and waiting for outdoor planting season, have my hose, my boots, my hat, my gloves, my sunscreen, and .....

Photo by Broomhill at Etsy

....... all my planters ready to be filled. But there's a messy problem this year. I normally do about 30-50 of various sized planters in May for the porches, the veranda, and a gorgeous 15' stretch of window boxes under our dining room window. I don't want my annuals to suffer this year so I will limit the amount and place for impact instead of volume. I usually get asked incredulously "How much did you spend on these flowers this year? and I always reply, "How much did you say your golf membership was this year? Off he goes, quickly I notice.

That's my grass in the bottom right corner of our corner lot. I know you think I am whining when I talk about the road construction that is going to ruin my summer.....and I promise this will be it once and for all. We have a really long driveway that I hose down each week after tending to my planters. I even wash my car all by myself. It's a whole clean-up routine that I do on Sunday mornings while my husband golfs and for some reason I love these sunny and productive outdoor tasks (my neighbors think I'm crazy with the driveway thing). Our newer street is a cul de sac that runs off from an older village road and it does need the work.....I just wish they would come back in October. This is the second year of this disruption. Absolutely no respect for my mental health!

This is my veranda where my fair-skinned spouse and I read the paper, eat meals, drink wine, chat and watch the birds. Many days I work out here, rain or shine, some of my best ideas evolve here on a simple artist pad. It usually does have more colour, but this shot was for a house tour and just slightly ahead of planting season. I have a great teak table with a huge iron mirror now on the far wall. We were going to further gussy it up this year and put in outdoor sofas, a smaller table, lamps, lanterns, a fire pit, an outdoor sound system and lots of colourful potted planters. I have this vision of reading outside at night, mosquitoes don't bother me at all and I love summer evenings, the best part of the day. Right now the constant dust is so thick, we can't possibly use it this year. By the way, those very-affordable sheer drapes are easy to do and machine washable if you have a spot. Even the rain doesn't hurt them and they look so pretty when the wind comes along.

I will just have to visit other outdoor gardens. This one in Dumbarton Oaks in Georgetown, DC looks like it's worth the road trip. Gorgeous wisteria. Image from Southern Accents.

Photo by Broomhill at Etsy.

A tranquil park setting here in Canada at Halifax Public Gardens. We usually have geese and goslings, dozens of them in our backyard each spring, with all the disruption they are likely hiding, poor things.

Well, they can't take away my peonies, they are shooting up like crazy this year.
I will enjoy them more than ever. Image from Southern Accents.

Ok, that's it......I'm done whining for the summer.
Anyone need their driveway all spic-and-span every Sunday morning?

Enjoy your planting this next few weeks!