Potted Plants

I thoroughly enjoy Spring. The green color on the budding trees is beautiful to see. The freshly planted shrubs and plants also add to the newness of Spring. I enjoy dabbling in the dirt and placing my flowering purchases into pots or into a flower bed. A little dirt under the nails never hurt anyone!

Our back deck looks different this year. There are no hanging baskets or large green plants decorating this outside area. With the seventeen degree weather this winter, many of my more mature plants were frozen. The freezing winter weather left me with no choice but to start over!

Just weeks after transplanting my purchases into pots, most of my plants are thriving. My caladiums, mums, and other greenery look healthy and happy. Every other day, I have misted the new growth with water and faithfully plucked the dead flowers after they bloomed. I am almost convinced that I have a green thumb!

Six years ago, my mother-in-love gifted me with an amaryllis bulb in a pot. Each year, this plant has faithfully bloomed. Each year, it has been taller and more robust than the year before. Just last year, the stalks were three feet tall with beautiful blooms. This year the plant is stunted, but appears healthy. It is preparing to bloom!

This past Fall, a resident squirrel hid nuts in a couple of my empty pots. He faithfully dug into the dirt and buried his nuts for future meals.

When I planted these pots, I mixed some fresh mulch into the dirt. Any of the buried nuts that I found, I removed, knowing that the squirrel could return at some future date. This last week, the squirrel visited my back porch several times to dig up his stash. I noted his return several times over several days because of the extreme mess that he created. When digging for buried treasure, he spewed dirt all over the deck. His quick retreat from my treasured pots left me with gaping holes that had to be refilled with dirt and a mess to clean up. He came calling several times one morning. I couldn't seem to catch him in the act.

My first response was to cover the fresh dirt with dead leaves from my flower bed. He still persisted. One of my pots was showing the effects of his digging, looking slightly wilted. I HAD TO TAKE ACTION! HE WAS SLOWLY KILLING MY NEW PLANTS!

Since I could not catch the squirrel in the act of encroachment to spray him with water, I had to cover the enticing dirt. By laying some ceramic figurines across the fresh dirt, I may have succeeded in halting the digging adventures of our neighborhood squirrel. Twenty-four hours have passed without any signs of a squirrel visitation.

I am on the lookout for any further visitations from this pesky creature. So far, my plants have not been disturbed. I don't mind if the squirrels jump from the trees and run across my roof, BUT STAY OUT OF MY PLANTS!!

Not all plants belong outside. i have an inside plant that loves my kitchen window. It has perched on the window sill for at least two years. Just recently I moved it to the dining room table because it had grown so large and threatened to fall off the window sill. This plant has adapted well to its new location, same side of the house and morning sun. It recently bloomed. Though this plant has received no special care, it is thriving.