Mary Mary, Quite Contrary...
Well, I had to make some adjustments in my container garden. You know, we are short water here and I am short time, because our outdoor space is a death trap for toddlers.
So, the azaleas died. They are hard to keep alive under the best circumstances. I hadn't totally accepted their fate, and then the quarterly landscaper visit came and they... just popped the little dead sticks from the pots and that was that.
Neither pot of calla lilies popped up this year, but I'm in denial about it.
My impatiens made it a very long time, but they wanted too much water. And it turns out that one of the planters in the yard is where the dog pees if the ground is wet, so nothing in there survived long.
The mass of spider plants is well. Ratty and not always green and vaguely messy as spider plants tend to be.
The succulents on the back porch, all of which have been there for years, are still going.
The succulent pot I put together last year is growing growing growing. One pot of hostas came up - both the Minute Man and the Elegans. I'm excited about that.
Arthur, Ye Olde Asparagus Fern is himself. He's definitely over forty (years) by now. A very important milestone for a potted plant.
The world's saddest geranium bloomed briefly this spring and is still not dead. It has had some tough times, but that thing is a fighter. It has even survived one brush with The Landscaper Declares You Deceased. I think sometimes raccoons dig in that pot too.
And my mother-in-law tongue from last year lives but is maybe not thriving. I don't think I've unlocked the secret to those yet.
The aloe in kitchen is the second least tidy plant after the spider plants. I ought to do more about it.
My orchid bloomed!!! Amazing!
Newly added we have many and various succulents. My new jade got a sunburn that's just boggling in my porch that I think of as mostly shade. I put together a pot of mixed succulents, but they don't all seem to want the same sun, so either they'll work it out or I'll intervene.
Aside from the calla lilies I can't let go, everything is actually reasonably green and tidy and self-sustaining out there in my container garden. A few blossoms, some new growth, maybe I'll even be able to just leave most of these pots and expand in the future.