Dirty Pleasures

I haveI have been playing in the dirt this morning. I watered the garden yesterday, so the ground was very receptive to my potted plants. A couple of years ago, I bought the gardenia (top photo) in a pot and loved it so much I could not bear to throw it out after it finished blooming. When I put it in the ground, I had read "never put hothouse gardenias in the ground. It is hopeless, and they will never bloom." Well, so much for gardening books!


I put in my yellow impatiens (middle photo), next to the formerly potted begonias left here by the former owners. These things never seem to last very long, but they appear to be perennials here!

Here in Houston, the climate resembles a hothouse. I have planted in the shade, so that the plants can receive the heat and moisture without being burned up by our intense sun.

Gordon received the plant in the bottom photo when he was recovering from his sinus surgery. I planted it in the garden today finally. It was incredibly pot-bound. There really was nothing but roots in the pot! Poor thing must be very relieved to be in the ground.