June 21

The herb pot is going nuts! Basil, chives, mint, oregano, rosemary

Sunflowers in the back, asiatic lilies and coreopsis in front.

Dahlia surrounded by... I can't remember what those are called.

The morning glory is starting to poke up out of the hanging basket

Mom Visits Matunuck

After a morning adventure at the Mount Hope Farm in Bristol, Mom came down to see my house in Matunuck. Since I have been working hard at decorating my house (and lately especially the deck), I was very excited to show off the fruits of my labor.

Mom of course swept in and solved some of the problems that have been stumping me. She moved two of the trash bins off the porch to free up space and moved my potted Calla Lily (now just leaves) into one of the planters. Then we tried again on the Bistro lights, but decided to ditch the effort “because the house is cute enough as it is, no need to tacky-it-up.” Showing no signs of slowing, Mom proceeded to cut leaves off some trees and make an arrangement for the table. I pulled out a barnacle-covered hanging drink holder that I pulled up on my anchor last summer, cut a water bottle in half, and mom filled it with evergreens so I won’t have to change them out all the time. She added, “You found that thing with the barnacles already on it?  People would pay money for that sort of thing!”

Mom is a master nester. If pressed, I think she would make an excellent interior decorator, personal shopper, or florist. She has an eye for functional design that I hope to inherit. I’ve been having a problem lately with black crows getting into the birdfeeder over the front door, flinging the birdseed into my pansy planter. The squirrels then trample on and dig up the pansies looking for lunch. Mom was appalled by this series of events along with the fact that birds might leave droppings at my front door, so the feeder has been taken down for now and will return in the fall.

Rainy Day Gardening

            I am so excited about all of my Job Lot planters and Lowe’s plants that I will not be deterred by a rainy morning! I have just covered my kitchen floor in a plastic sheet and brought in all of my planters. I have to run to a meeting but am all set up and will get to this as soon as I return!

            Later: It turns out it’s still grey and misty but no longer raining so I didn’t need to make a mess of my kitchen after all.  I came up with a plan this time, to have a row of tall plants in the back of the planter with shorter ones in front. Thus, I moved all the sunflowers into the back row of one of the Job Lot planters, and then put the coreopsis and my Asiatic lily bulbs in the front. 

The Rose Shack

            When one is newly excited by gardening, driving south on Route 1 in Rhode Island is a dangerous activity. Of the myriad of  choices of nurseries, I chose the Rose Shack. I was looking for inspiration in hanging baskets (actually I was looking for a hanging basket with the coconut stuff but was unsuccessful on that front). I found the most wonderful orange-y red flower that has long creeping arms, Calibrachoa, or “Superbells” as they were called at the Rose Shack.

Job Lot Round 2

Okay, I may have gotten a little crazy at Job Lot this time. Instead of buying one more planter, I got two, as well as a stand with two hooks for a hanging basket and the humming bird feeder I bought last spring. Then I found seed packets for half off! I stocked up on a ton more sunflowers in all sorts of reds, pinks, oranges and yellows, aster, cosmos, dahlias, and I’m going to try again on poppies, even though they’re out of season.

My Birthday Comes Early at Target and Lowe's

          Target: I have been pining over OXO’s pop-top boxes. After lots of Ebay and Amazon research, I have found that the handy bins for kitchen organization cannot be found at a discount. This is tragic news given that they run $16-$18 each and I want a bin each for white flour (for baking), wheat flour (for banana pancakes), semolina flour (for pasta), white sugar and brown sugar. I would also like bins for rice and dry pasta, but let’s not get too carried away here. Good news: Target carries OXO! Mom treated me to two big, two medium, and one small box. Hooray birthday! (It’s almost September, right?) Also at Target I found cup hooks and bistro lights (bigger bulbs than Christmas lights).

            Lowes: After a week spent between Duxbury, Marblehead, Nantucket, and Duxbury again, I think all of my plants at home in Matunuck are going to be dead. Mom is very convinced, especially since we had some blazing hot days this week and my deck gets full sun. Thus, after Target, we headed to the Lowe’s Garden Center to get some replacements. Man, did we hit the jackpot! I found some new very hearty basil (I’m sure mine is toast), potting soil to be supplemented by some of Dad’s compost, and flowers. Oh, the flowers. The hibiscus plants were only $10 so naturally Mom and I each had to get one (yellow for Mom, peach for me). Then mom picked out pink petunias for us to split under our hibiscus plants (hibiscii?), and a hanging basket of purple scaevola? also to split. I grabbed some yellow coreopis because the color looks so cheerful (and also because nothing else is blooming yet out there on the deck). Mom advised me sternly to stay away from the lilys because they are already blooming and will go by quickly. It has been a good birthday – as much as the Mini can hold!