Today was gardening day!

Today I set aside as the day I would plant a new round of flowers in the backyard. Because I have such large windows in my house, the backyard really feels like an extension of the house, and I feel a responsibility to keep the yard looking nice. You see it the minute you walk through the front door.

I purposefully got up nice and early so I could get to the nursery before it got too hot. There were some cute planters I saw the other day and I got 4 of them for the corners of my brick patio. They match the planters along the wooden fence. The good thing about the planters I got today is that now, Bailey the dog won't be able to pee on my flowers! I got them for the looks, but it's a perk, that's for sure...
I also learned about a new potting soil, called Danish Potting Soil. Apparently it has more peat moss in it and holds the water longer, so you don't have to water as often and it doesn't dry out as quickly. Good for CA weather and for people like me who can get kind of negligent about watering sometimes. Got 3 bags of that. Another upside is that the bags are much lighter.

So I did the 4 new planters around the brick, the 5 planters along the fence, and 3 pots. I was in the mood for pinks, red, purples, and white. Bright and deep colors. Got lots of dianthus and a few vincas and pansies. Let's see if the pansies do better in these planters off the ground. Sometimes they attract bugs when they're in pots on the ground. I also got 2 pre-planted color bowls for the front porch. One of these days I'm going to have to plant more flowers in the front yard. I also need to clean out the area under the kitchen window in the backyard and plant some flowers there. Another day...definitely, another day.

From the nursery trip to the final clean-up, the whole project took about 3 hours. Wow, was I hot and I tired. I went through 3 bottles of water and really had to rest. The sun was blazing by the time I was done. After a little while I also went out and trimmed the birch tree. It was getting a little out of control.

OK, pictures! The 4 corners of my yard. I recommend clicking on the pictures to see them full-sized. It's hard to see all my hard work in these tiny little ones!
The wall planters up close...
And, as always, there are leftovers because I end up getting more flowers than I need just to be on the safe side. They turned out pretty good!
The front porch got spiffed up a little bit too. I hope I don't forget to water these! (An occupational hazard with them in the front of the house...)
I'm feeling very accomplished these last few days! Selling my car, tons of errands yesterday, and gardening today.

And, on a more solemn note, yesterday I went to the cemetery and visited where my sweetie, Brad is. I found this really pretty bouquet of red-dyed sunflowers at a local market and felt inspired to take it to him. I've been thinking about him a lot with all the improvements on the house. I wish I could share that with him. 3 years he's been gone. Wow. Feels like so much longer. This picture turned out really pretty. My sweet, sweet man. He was so wonderful.
Sorry, I don't mean to end on a bummer note! The last few days really have been very good. Busy and good, good and busy. Click on any of the pictures to see them full-sized.