Petunia
Now although my favorite plant catalog has as its motto, “Friends don’t let friends buy annuals;” we have been shopping for annuals this month.
I love the little starts, already blooming themselves silly, in bright fresh colors.
Salvia and Ageratum
Annuals are the “over-achievers” of the plant kingdom, living their short lives with great beauty and gusto!
annual Ageratum
Choosing annuals each year is a little like re-painting a room, or choosing a new comforter for an old bed. It is an easy way to “redecorate” the patio and the deck with a fresh palette of color in pots and baskets.
So long as they remain well fed and watered, they will bloom from now until frost kills them in late autumn.
On our last two trips to our favorite Homestead Garden Center, owner Joel Patton has been there, and has most generously given me some little annuals to grow out and trial for him. So I will definitely be showing you those little plants as the season progresses.
Petunias and Bacopa on the right, one of the plants given to me to trial
The Patton family grow many of the herbs, annuals, and perennials they offer at their nursery in far western James City County. Everything is organically and loving grown, and absolutely fresh and healthy.
The selection is just mind-boggling at this time of the year, and the Pattons stock cultivars you can not find anywhere else in the area.
And so my great fun at the moment is to construct fresh arrangements of annuals and hang them out onto the empty hooks on the deck, celebrating a new season of growth.
Such amazing colors surrounding us now that the weather has warmed! I have a tired back, but a happy heart!
Photos by Woodland Gnome, 2014
Forest Garden 