Some of our plants are pretty resilient and self-seeding. I guess that’s what they call “invasive species”, but I don’t see it this way. I like it how they can grow everywhere, and I even move them around to fill the gaps between others.
Actually, I would prefer to grow my flowers in a real garden, not just pots on the porch. But the soil in the yard is too hard to handle, and there are numerous creatures set to destroy anything we plant (slugs are the worst of them). So, I try to achieve a “garden look” with numerous pots in dense rows, and the self-seeding plants help me with this. Besides, they don’t grow too high, so they don’t disturb the other plants in the pot.
Sometimes they grow and bloom in cracks on the wall or the floor. I know we are supposed to weed them out, because they don’t look tidy and they can damage the spot where they grow. But I don’t have the heart to do this – they look so cool, in a “beautiful decay” kind of way. This is the real boho style for me.
One of these ever-present plants is mimulus. We have two varieties, and they keep appearing everywhere – in the pots, in the walls and on the edge of the porch.
Last summer, there were snapdragons growing in the cracks.
Some plants are attacked by pests again, it’s typical in such a weather. The cute small-blooming pansy that Albena (“The Three-Headed Dragon Lady”) gave me, is in a really bad shape because of powdery mildew, and so is the avens. My deep purple verbena suffers from something that I don’t recognise, which has already killed its neighbouring plants (cute lilac-colored things, I totally forgot their name). I treated them with pest-control spray, I hope they can recover.
Yesterday there was sudden torrential rain and hail, and some plants were damaged – fortunately, not too much. If I only knew, I would leave them inside the greenhouse for protection. But there was no alert in the forecast, and it happened so fast that I had no time to react.
My Dahlia “Sunshine” has flowered.
The blooms are a bit pale, I guess because there was not enough sun lately. But I hope that with time the color will get richer, as it is expected for this variety.
I moved some plants (temporarily) in plastic pots, so that I could free the terracotta ones which had started to mold. Boris helped me to wash them, and Nick treated them with impregnating liquid – I hope this helps.
I planted my new decorative pomegranate tree – a birthday present from Nick, in one of them.
Nick thinks that growing so many plants is too much work, and he sometimes wonders how I manage. Moving the pots around all the time, potting and repotting, watering, weeding, deadheading, fertilizing, spraying them against the numerous pests… But actually I don’t see it that way. To me it is a pleasure, a way to relax, therapy and distraction from all problems. The flowers exist so simply and naturally, that just looking at them can make you feel calmness and joy.
I read somewhere that growing a garden meant one has hopes for the future. I feel like it’s true, even in the smallest scale (which builds up the larger picture). When you wake up, remember that a plant was about to flower, go out to check on it, and you suddenly see it blooming in the sunshine – priceless! It gives you something to look forward to, no matter what else happens, and it affects your general outlook on life in a great way.
We made some more boho mugs, and we added them to our shop.
Nick always makes several photos of each one, to show how it looks from various viewpoints. But their sides look so different, that some people think these are separate mugs. Now he started making videos, so that everyone could get an accurate idea.
When we uploaded our “Peace Tapestry” mug, there was an instant response – we got several messages about it. A nice lady from another city was among the people who ordered it. She is my Facebook friend – I never met her in person, but I follow her posts, and I love her laid-back hippie style. I decided this was my chance to make а love beads necklace as a gift for her and send it with the mug. I like to do this sometimes, when someone’s personality inspires me. It makes me happy, and I hope I can make them happy too!
