Today was what I call a “Dirt Day” (hands get very dirty with soil… I try to keep these to 1 or 2 all year). It was as gorgeous a day as I could have asked for, so the dirt was the only downside of an otherwise incredible outdoor experience. I planted a bunch of flowers and a tomato plant, all for the back side of our house…which is seen by passers-by as well as us, since we live on a corner.

I did the two “geranium” pots I have done for years, on either side of the back steps (by the door we use every day to go to and from our cars). I also planted what seems like a huge pot, with a tomato plant that says it does well in containers. Around the base of that pot I also planted some “violas” (that is what their package calls them, anyway) which are dark purple and bright yellow. They look like tiny pansies to me. I think they will be pretty with the red and green of a tomato plant, we shall see.

The geraniums (they have another official name but I can’t remember it) have beautiful multicolored leaves, and promise to have intense coral blooms when the flowers come. In the pots with the geraniums I put variegated vinca vine (it is very sturdy and forgiving when I don’t water, and one winter I had one survive until spring, amazing). I also added a purple and white flower I’ve never tried before, called verbena. I love purple with the coral color, and in the past I have tried to plant purple lobelia there, but they dry out very easily and do not recover well at all once they get too dry. I’m not a consistent waterer once we get to July, and my lobelia on the west/sunny side never have done well.

I still got lobelia for the shady side of the house (they will go in with white, coral and red impatiens and some vinca on the front/east side of the house). I didn’t get around to doing my shady containers today. I was outside about an hour and a half between the pots I did plant and some weeding I did. I had work to do inside, so had to wait for yet another dirt day (ugh) for the front of the house.

However… the verbena information says they like sun or part sun, and it says they do well in containers. I’m crossing my fingers, but you can’t learn anything if you never try something new. The verbena actually are easier to see from the sidewalk, which is a plus. I have very few spots in the yard that are sunny, but that spot gets a lot of sun especially in July and August. I hope these don’t dry out like the lobelia. I notice the verbena is a little more of a magenta-purple, and the lobelia are more of a blue-violet. I like them both, they are just different. It will be fun to see how things go.

I also diverted a handful of viola plants into a smaller periwinkle-glazed pot for my friend April. She expressed a desire a week or so ago, to have a few flowers this year. But hey, she has a 4-week-old baby and I can’t see how she will have time to plant anything. I gave her a little bit of the purple/yellow color (I’ve never tried these, we will see how they do). Then I added some white impatiens… a plant that is very forgiving when you ignore it. The flowers will droop and look like they are wilting, but the minute you give them water they come back to life. Perfect. Even if the violas don’t do well, she’ll have one plant that will be no trouble at all.

It was sort of fun, I snuck into her yard when she was not looking and placed the pot by her door. She came over later to thank me for the flowers. It is so nice to have a neighbor I know and trust… I’m not at all used to that but I’m really liking it.

You should have seen sweet baby Isabel today, in a sun bonnet she inherited this weekend at a family gathering… and an adorable little dress with matching bloomers. How adorable can you get? She’s a sweet baby, and April continues to be just in love with her child. She is a very happy Mommy.

Above is a photo of my tomato pot. Any help or suggestions would be more than welcome. I’ve never had a tomato plant before. I don’t like fresh tomatoes although I do like cooked ones a lot. I just saw a summer city garden last year with tomatoes in it, and they were so beautiful, red and shiny in that garden… well, I just had to give it a try. The landing by our back door gets sun from afternoon until sunset, and I think it will be a good spot for a happy tomato plant. I hope.

The pot is really big, 15 inches in diameter at the top. The little information blurb that came with the tomato says: Patio (F) Tomato F1 Hybrid. Matures in 70 days Fruit Size 2″ (5cm). Compact size is perfect for growing in patio containers…Plant when weather and soil warm so lowest leaves are 1″ above soil level… Full Sun.

My friend Lili says that tomatoes need a lot of fertilizer. I’m not at all into chemicals but might buy some fish emulsion (ugh) or composted manure (not as ugh as it sounds… looks like good black soil). She also says it needs a better stake than it has (the one in the plant right now is about 6″ tall above the soil). I can see that I already have a problem, because the lower leaves touch the dirt. I guess I have two choices… repot higher (but it seems that the roots would dry out) or cut off the bottom leaves?

I’m not much of a gardener. I love color and I do know a lot of plant names, for someone who does NOT like dirt on her hands. I don’t mind watering, deadheading, even weeding. I do not like the mud I got all over myself today. I have found that containers and I do well together, so mostly I plant in containers. I’ve only had any flowers at all since I bought that house after my divorce, about 10-12 years ago. I started out just buying pre-planted geranium pots. Before that, the only plants I’d ever planted myself were hostas, and a few bulbs here and there.

Since I met Brian and moved to this house, I have actually purchased pots, soil, plants in small pots/flats, and then made my own little artful plantings. I’m thinking this may be my fourth or perhaps fifth year that I did anything more than buy a planted pot (or two) and bring it home to water.

So I am still learning, very slowly. I would love to hear from any of you who love plants, so that I can do a good job. I want to honor these lovely growing things and make beauty in my corner of the world. They look pretty nice today, anyway!

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