The annuals in my pots this year - month one

Most of my pots were planted the end of April. 

Here in the Midwest, Mother’s Day, mid May is considered safe for planting annuals. 

So I was two full weeks early.

We were fully prepared to cover pots or move things in the garage if necessary.

I had three reasons for going early -

- global warming

- middle had time to plant

- I bought my annuals the minute the nurseries had their summer stock available, so I had full choices/options

I hope to post photos, the beginning of each month, to document growth/success. I took careful notes of exactly what was planted. I hope this record helps me improve my purchases next year.

Here are all my pots, window boxes and planters at one month - 

Note - the five big pots (by little garage door, above) are a new addition. They held tomatoes and green beans other years. We are ditching trying to grow vegetables and supporting our local Saturday farmers market instead. 

Each of those five pots has a horizontal disc (below) in the center, so they are only half full of dirt. There is a brick in the bottom of each for stability. 

A bit sad

Dana K White suggests starting/decluttering with the easiest stuff (garbage, recycling, obvious donations). 

I think I have done that instinctively. 

In 2018, when I started decluttering, I went through most of the house, attic and garage. 

That process continues. I continue to just keep working back through the same areas. Each time, my opinion changes, I can let more go. 

Now I am on to the harder stuff. 

I recently donated a bag of vintage baby things including all my christening clothes (63 years old). 

I have stored and moved it for 63 years. I did not use any of it for my own kids.

I asked the kids. No one wanted any of it. 

I did not try to sell any of it. I donated it to a locally run resale shop I like. 

Red Huskers in bloom

I have a large grouping of Red Huskers. They all self started from the next door neighbor’s bed. It took many years, but they have filled in nicely. 

I give away dozens and dozens of Red Husker starts every year. They pop up all along this bed. With the red cast to the leaves, they are easily recognizable. 

I post them on Facebook Marketplace and tell people to bring their own container. This is a win-win. 

Gardeners love inexpensive starts. This helps me weed good plants, that have happened to come up in the wrong place, from my flower beds. 

Reeding Between the Lines

My quilt blogger and her daughter started a book review podcast! 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reeding-between-the-lines/id1744436935

Daisies in bloom

 

More bearded irises in bloom

Hoses

We changed out all our spigot attachments May 2024.

The old ones were all leaking. 

I bought three sets of this combination - 

We have three spigots. Each is set up with a very long hose. I can get to anywhere in the yard with one of those three hoses. 

Each spigot also has a second hose, shorter, for watering window boxes and flower beds near the spigot. This makes daily watering easier.

The hoses have long wands, short wands, or nozzles attached, depending on their location. These have various spraying options available and simply turn on and off with a flip switch. There is not a trigger that requires constant pressure to operate. 

Another Bearded Iris in bloom

 

Bearded Iris in bloom

I have irises in many places. These are the ones on the side of the driveway. 

Honeysuckle in bloom

It is very hard to photograph. I have two of them in the front yard. Only photographed one, the other is even harder to photograph.

The annuals in my pots this year

The annuals in my pots were planted two weeks ago. The photographs were taken a week ago. My plan is to post progress photos once a month to show the growth.

Yes, I planted early. Let’s blame it on global warming. Our weather has been very mild. I keep a close eye on the forecast. I will cover everything if needed.

And yes, plants are shockingly expensive this year. I have cut way back in my plants. I put less variety in each pot than in the past. 

I water every day. Pots are a commitment.

The front window box - 6 pots at 12” each.
Shade.

The kitchen window box - 3 pots at 26”x10”

each. 

Shade.

The hanging baskets - 4 measuring 20” x 7” 

Sun.

The bench planter - 3 square pots measuring 13”x13” each.

Sun. 

Side planter - 5 square pots measuring 13”x13”  each.

Sun.

Metal chair planter - one 9” pot.

Sun.

New! Corner by little garage door - 3 pots measuring 18” each. 

Late afternoon sun only.

Bottom of driveway - 2 pots measuring 18” each. 

Sun.

Jacob’s Ladder is in bloom

I purchased 8 or starts of Jacob’s Ladder in 2019 or 2020. It loves this spot. It is blooming now.

Clematis is growing on the trellis. There is a fence wrapped around the trellis to keep the bunnies at bay. Two years in a row (2022 and 2023) the bunnies let the clematis grow, and just start to bloom, and then chomped it off at the ground. They didn’t eat it, they just chomped it.

The hedge is boxwood.

Between the boxwood hedge and the clematis is Jacob’s Ladder. 

Yes, so many weeds low to the ground in this bed. 

It is complicated. This on my list and should be solved in the next couple months.

A tile (drainage tile, underground) needs to go under the sidewalk to reduce the volume of water in this bed. 

That involves digging a very deep hole to find the old tile. Then the downspout will be hooked up to that tile or a new tile will be fed through the old one. 

Once that is done, the bed will be weeded within an inch of its life, and hosta will move from the backyard to create a lush border on the front edge of this bed.

My lilac is in full bloom

 

Wordle

 I added a game to my repertoire. Wordle.

Yes, I realize this is not new or exciting news. 

A lot of people play Wordle.

I mention Wordle only because I might play it slightly different than the average person. I play for speed and efficiency. I do not care if I use all six tries to get the word. 

I think many people always start with the same word. They have one favorite word they try first. 

Many people chose a word with the most vowels possible. 

This site lists suggestions -

https://capitalizemytitle.com/5-letter-words-with-the-most-vowels/

I googled “what is the smartest method to play Wordle?”.

My search history no longer has the link listed. It might have been a video. 

But I have a screen shot of the suggestion -

The idea is to have five standard words, not one. And those five words utilize most of the alphabet. Four letters are missing from those five words (above) Q, V, X, Z.

My red dashes (above) indicate the duplicates. 

I liked the concept, but I fine tuned the words to include one more letter. 

I use DERBY, FLANK, WITCH first, every time I play. Those three words cover 15 of the 26 letters of the alphabet. They cover some very common letters. 

Sometimes, those three words are enough. 

If those three words are not enough, I add JUMPS. 

If that is still not enough, I add VOGUE.

My five words are only missing Q, Z, X from the alphabet. The letter U usually tips me off if there is a Q hiding.

If I only reveal four letters and there is not a U, then there is either a duplicate letter or a X or a Z.

Here is a screen shot showing all five of my words with the duplicate letters marked. Q, X, Z are missing. Again, if there is a U, I suspect Q.