In the Yard

The Florida Orchestra's season ended last Saturday, and with it came the always ABRUPT shift from busy busy go go go to . . .

time.

It takes me a few days to settle into the summer routine.  I have to constantly remind myself:  stop.  There's time to sit down and read that book for a little while.  Watch a little TV, even if I don't have a quilt binding to hand sew (usually the only time I watch TV!).  Or just sit and breathe.

Also, catch up on some overdue tasks, like gardening!
I'm not a particularly passionate gardener, but here in Florida we spend a lot of time outside.  So I like the yard to look at least halfway decent.  And I like to have fresh herbs to cook with.  Today's project was to pot the herbs I bought over the weekend.

Soil in this area is terrible, consisting mostly of sand and fire ants.  So I've found potted plants in commercial soil grow much more successfully.

Today it was basil and dill, with some ornamental purslane for color.

I'm an enthusiastic container recycler, like using this old teapot to hold coleus.  I used a small hammer to tap a few nail holes in the bottom of the teapot for drainage.

This small copper saucepan has been a good home for these cacti.  I love how it's weathered over the years. Installing drainage holes in the bottom of this pot required a power drill, in case you're considering something like this for yourself.

Friends of ours remodeled the bathroom of their 1920's bungalow a few years back, and gave us their old sink.  It's holding our aloe vera supply, a great plant to have on hand for sunburn and kitchen burns.

I do love the look of mossy and weather beaten pots.  That large pot at the bottom (holding today's just planted pot of purslane) is cracked and in poor condition, really not suitable for holding plants.  But it still works great as a pedestal.

The old wire egg basket is getting a nice rusty patina on it.  That's a new dill plant in the pot-- don't worry about it looking small, it will fill that pot in probably just a few weeks.