Back Porch Flowers

I know it’s late to be getting any herbs, but a couple weeks ago I got some small ones and potted them up out on the back porch along with a few flowers.  I just couldn’t resist the urge to have something growing out there – I don’t want to have to wait until next year!  I’m hoping that some of the herbs can grow inside in a sunny windowsill over the fall / winter…if not, we’ll just snip them up and cook with them.

Here’s what’s on the back porch:

some sage and oregano mixed in among pots of geraniums and ornamental chili peppers.  I took the photo before cleaning up my compost – bin supplies, which you can see on the ground.

I am hoping that next year I can (or the landlord will) paint that porch to match the house…it sure could use it.

Here’s another view:

That’s a night-blooming Jasmine plant on the left, a lavender in the middle, and a lemon verbana on the right…with some rosemary in front.  The small fern – looking plant on the right in front is a Painted Fern which will go into the yard once I get a handle on what plants I’m going to have and what is going where.  🙂

First casualty…

Well, it didn’t take long.  I think I’ve lost two of the bright pink ‘Million Bells’ in one of my window boxes.  It has been hot and I guess the lesson here is that they need to be watered much more frequently since the boxes are small and there’s really not a ton of soil in there to hold water.  Sigh.

Must get a watering can with a long neck!  That way I can water them from outside the house which will be easier than removing the screens and watering from inside, which is what I’ve been doing since my pitcher / sprinkling can won’t fit through the window bars from outside.

We’ll see if they bounce back after this morning’s watering.  If not I guess I’ll have to replace them.

The back porch container garden is doing fairly well – the herbs are happy, the tiny chili peppers are happy, and my night-blooming Jasmine is about to flower…but my geraniums…not so good. They are getting a lot of sun, which I thought they liked, but the flowers seem to be drying up even though the soil has been kept moist.

Trial and error, I suppose.  Maybe I’ll try moving them somewhere else…