My husband is my best friend. And because he loves me and knows how much I love to have a gorgeous garden he wanted to make sure that the weeds were kept to a minimum.
In the belief that he was making way for more liriope to grow, he killed the weeds that were choking it out.
He killed the liriope too.
Nothing grows in the bald patch now -- just some hardy weeds.
Now, weeds aren't always bad things. They're really just plants growing where you didn't intend them.
I looked at this patch, willing the liriope to grow back. Nope. Nothing.
This year I wanted to do something that would make it look nicer. At first I thought I'd put containers on top of pea gravel and then load a bunch of river rock around it.
But I wanted to be more frugal than that. I already had an unused bag of hardwood mulch. I hauled that over and dumped it in the patch. I spread it around and then placed the pots I'd bought on it to see how they'd look.
Not bad really.
Now, the pots were a little pricey -- $26 each for the big pots and $19 for the smaller one at Wal-Mart. But they're plastic and that's what I wanted and here's why.
I live in Tidewater Virginia which is famous for icing and ice storms. Had I bought ceramic pots, they may break when the weather gets nasty and that's money I'd rather not waste.
I found some plastic pots that look ceramic. If you go to some garden centers you'll find them. I liked the fact that the brown of the pots blended in with the mulch. And the small pot is a bronze color which gives a nice accent.
I planted a tomato plant in each of the large pots along with sweet potato vine and wave petunia, both of which will trail over the sides in time. Lantana is in there too because these pots will get south facing sun for at least 8-9 hours a day and lantana is a great plant for hot, dry conditions.
I've put some photos on the page so you can see what the area looks like now and I'll take some more throughout the summer so you can compare how well the plants have grown.
I plan to spread more mulch and add river rock over the summer so some of my original idea is still alive.
Mulch, decorative pots and plants will help spruce up any bald patch.
I remember the first time I'd ever seen fuchsias being grown. It was in the 70's at my brother's house in El Cajon, California.
He had an elaborate arbor with lattice work over the top and had hung pot after pot of fuchsias. They grew well in that climate and I figured that the western part of the country was the only place they'd grow really well.
Hey, I was 14 or 15 at the time and had never seen this plant grown anywhere else.
Here's a true confession: I'll occasionally buy plants from a stand in front of our local Food Lion. And the fuchsia was one of them!
I brought it home, having no idea how to care for it, just having a fond memory of Ross's fuchsias.
The fuchsia shown in the photo is the fuchsia x hybrida which likes to hang out in pots, is a favoriate of hummingbirds and will bloom well from early summer through first frost.
It likes part sun with moderately moist soil. For me in Virginia, that means check the plant every day. In the heat of our summer I'll water each morning.
This plant was named for Leonard Fuchs, a 16th century botanist in Germany. And while fuchsias can be grown in containers and hanging pots, they can also be grown as shrubs. Some varieties are evergreen and will come back to bloom every summer.
Next time you're in the mood to grow something new, try a fuchsia!
