Instant Color

Like every other suburbanite in New Jersey, I spent Memorial Day buying flowers. Petunias for the hanging baskets I had purchased at Lowes:

Do you see the problem? I didn’t until I got them home and was looking for a place to store them until it was time to plant them. Those cute little things on the bottom make it impossible to rest them on anything. They’ve been hanging in my basement until now. Fortunately, I had planned on two at two different heights. Tall, for the side of my house and short for next to my porch.

To plant them, I hung the baskets, one at a time, from the shorter hook. It was an awkward height for me, a little too short to work comfortably, but I got the job done and learned my lesson. Beautiful is not always practical.

For the little stand I planted New Guinea impatiens, new for me.

You’re wondering about the orange one, aren’t you? Why not purple to match the petunias just a few feet away? Because I made an impulse purchase. My original plan was to color coordinate all of the flowers in containers around my house. And then I saw these:



An entire flat of red and orange impatiens. The porch on the side of my house sits in deep shade most of the day. The temptation to fill the boxes with strong colors was irresistible. Hence the orange New Guinea impatien. It’s my lame attempt to make a color transition from pastels to a stronger color.

And don’t forget, right below the tall hanging basket is the red General Jac imposter. And the strawberry jar filled with nasturtiums. So in a way it does all go together. Sort of. Next year, I swear, I will have a coordinated color scheme. I’m going to move the rosebush. I’m toying with different ideas of what to replace it with. And I’ll plant something different in the strawberry jar.
In the meantime, while my entry garden remains stubbornly green, my house is surrounded by containers full of brightly colored flowers.