Summer Is Officially Here

In my mental calendar of the seasons, Mother's Day is the unarguable start of the planting season here in the Pacific Northwest. True, we may have some warm sunny days before that second Sunday in May, but you can't count on them to last. And honestly, there may be many more stretches of cool, rainy weather in the weeks to come that are not going to help those plants thrive in the least, but at some point you just gotta dive in and hope for the best.

So last weekend, true to form, I took my little self to the garden store, loaded up on vegetable starts and annuals for my pots, and spent the whole week, on and off, getting everyone settled in their new homes.

I'll show you around. Let's start in the backyard. Just as you step outside the sliding door, you'll see this orange pot.

To your right, against the windows, you will see my green herb bench with a load of fresh plants. Yes, my daughter names our plants: Tim the Thyme, Pandora the Rosemary, Macy the Mint, and Charlie the Chive. The rosemary needs a new R name but for now she is using the leftover tag from last year's parsley.

To the right, along the side of the house under the kitchen window, live the tomatoes and strawberries. Like the herbs, the tomatoes all have names. This one is Talon.

Sprinkled here and there around the patio are other pots of annuals. My garden beds are filled with perennials and shrubs, but I like to add some splashes of nonstop color with not only the annual flowers but the bright pots they live in.

This pot above lost a chunk out of its side last summer but I hate to throw it out. I created a workaround by cutting off a section of black plastic from one the pots these plants came in, and wedged it in to fill the missing gap. In a few weeks, these plants will fill in and hide the evidence. 

And this bright pink hydrangea bloom is looking for a more permanent home. For now, he is chilling under my little paperbark maple tree and enjoying a gentle rain.

The front porch got a fair share of attention. As you can see, I basically buy a bunch of impatiens, geraniums and begonias in various shades of pink, and mix 'em up in different ways to create a little variety. 

Again this year, I decided to make my two greyish blue pots the focal point of my entry area. They are great pots - nice shape, subtle color that blends well with my flowers and bright green door. But they are also handmade from Malaysia, and given my fondness for that country, it puts a smile on my face to see them here in their place of honor.

 Now that my pots are full, it's official - summer is here!