Pot(ted) Plants

Jerry loves gardening. I do, too. But Jerry loves the part of gardening that reminds him of his childhood visits to his family's farms in South Dakota. Digging, planting, weeding, getting his hands dirty. Some chickens and pigs (and perhaps a cow) would really make him happy.

BOUGAINVILLEA.

Now that we're living in a city apartment, we have to satisfy our gardening urges with pot gardens. No, not that kind of pot, although I remember a cousin of mine in the '60s having a jungle of marijuana plants on her balcony across the street from my parents. The Dowager Duchess loves to garden and has a green thumb. She asked my cousin what the lush plants were. My cousin panicked and I believe told my mother "they were tomatoes, but they died," before hauling them all into the house for harvest. It was an excellent crop, by the way.

THIS IS WHEN I MISS HAVING A HOUSE (UNTIL I HAVE TO WEED IT ALL).

Our seven balconies have been bare and we really wanted to spruce them up. We spent some time checking out other balconies and terraces around town to see what seemed to thrive in both winter and summer here. Wednesday, we went to a wonderful garden center a few miles north and loaded up two carts with 14 staked bougainvilleas, 14 trailing geraniums, 28 pots and trays, and 5 big bags of soil. Bougainvilleas and geraniums aren't unusual but they grow easily, thrive in the summer heat, and will give us color year-round.

KEEPING IT SIMPLE AND LOW MAINTENANCE.

Everything was delivered (free of charge) Friday morning at 8:30 and San Geraldo quickly went to work. He planted. I hauled. We both watered.

BRIGHTENING UP A RARE DREARY DAY IN SEVILLA.

The recent gray, rainy days have been great for allowing the plants to settle in, but I can't wait to see them thrive in the sunshine.  I've been checking the balconies incessantly to see how much everything has grown. Ten minutes ago, I discovered that a geranium had started to flower. I'd better go check again.

GERANIO!