Now days even non gardeners can put a welcoming basket by a front door or gate or patio with no fuss. All it takes is one basket (this one is actually vinyl but resembles willow) and a couple of Fiesta pots or color bowls of mixed flowers (petunia, mini belles and verbena). You can get them at most any place that sells seasonal plants...even the grocery store. They are already done by color scheme for you so all you have to do is set them in a basket. If your state still sells small ivy, you might add that in for a nice trailing effect. Of course, you DO have to remember to water them and perhaps move them to a shady location in the heat of summer...
WARNING: SMALL RANT HERE...I think it is too bad when those who are non-gardeners ignore the seasons. They think the outdoors is what they walk through to get from their house to their car or from their car to their work. I've never been able to understand how some can be so clueless and removed from their surroundings. The only thing that tells them when the season has changed is that they might have to wear a jacket or change to shorts. Oye! I have a stepson like that...I swear a bomb could go off in his yard and he wouldn't notice for days, weeks or months if ever.
This concrete swan is a real treasure for a succulent gardener! I just about had the big one when I spotted this planter at TJ Maxx! I had to have it...even if I thought that I couldn't lift it into the cart without help! But I just sucked it up and heaved it in. I peeled the sticker off and gave it to the clerk at the checkout as I figured I had only one more lift in me...from the cart to the trunk of the car. Oh where is my undergardener when I need him?
I filled the beauty up with graptoveria, echeveria and sedums.
Other animals in my succulent menagerie include this owl...another TJ Maxx find that I filled with a trailing crassula and some hens & chicks.
We're promised a week of good temps (lows in the high 40's and highs in the 70's so I'm setting out my tender succulents this week. The pink center is a Fred Ives graptoveria. The blue are echeveria and the lime green are sedum in front and a miniature ice plant towards the back.
