Spring Planting

Last year did not count as far as this post goes. But most years, I get inspired at this time of the year to do "container gardening" on my deck. This year, thanks to the deck-project-that-never-seemed-to-end, the deck is about 3 times bigger than usual. We plan some landscaping in the yard to go with the new giant deck (Andrew needs a pin that says "Ask me about my big deck"). But there's this big empty space down at the end of it that needs:

Yep. You guessed it: container gardening plants.

The trouble is, it's easy at this time of the year. If you forget to water the many planters one day, they don't all instantly die. In Texas, in the heat of summer to come (late May will start it off) if you forget to water your container plants, they will croak and turn dried in what seems like a matter of hours. And usually, my enthusiasm for planting stuff will have waned a bit around late May. I'll have gotten complacent, and, shall we dare say, lazy?

As I said, last year I didn't bother. There was no particular reason, but the deck stayed fairly empty of pretty flowering planted pots. I think maybe it was because Andrew was gone and I spent many of my weekends visiting him up in La.

But this year. This year is different. (Or so the flowers have assured me).

Today, I had to go the nursery for some fertilizer plus weed killer for our lawn. Ah, suburbia!! We have this lovely weed called by the lady at the nursery "velcro." It does stick to anything it touches, and it's growing very well. I wish that roses would grow like that! At the nursery, lined up in happy little bunches, were yellow and red and pink and purple flowers, nodding their heads at me. They agreed that this year I would nurture them. This year, with my newfound motherly hormones, I couldn't let them down. A gorgeous lava orange hibuscus made its way into my basket, and some rosemary sculpted ever so cleverly into a tree shape joined it. Some yellow daisy flowers, some white something or other. Some mint, and a few other things.

They all happily consented to the idea that THIS YEAR I would have a lovely container garden resting at the back of the deck, drawing the eye there, de-emphasizing the huge expanse of Andrew's Big Deck that currently has nothing on it*. Making the deck and backyard look cozy again. Welcoming.

But you know, I have the sneaky suspicion that flowers are not very smart. All that flower head-nodding was very lulling to my sense that I have not only a black thumb but many black, plant-killing fingers. Nothing on these ten digits typing away looks remotely "Green". Those flowers convinced me, and it's on their little flowery heads when May rolls around and the hose stays coiled like a pale green snake on the lawn, so close but yet so far.

*Hey. Get your mind out of the gutter. Besides, I've been really tired. You try feeling sexy when you have a wiggling watermelon stuck to your midsection. :)