Ahhh I'm sorry about your bulbs!!! I tried some tulips in some new pots I inherited and half of them bloomed and half of them grew a bunch and then just stopped...very mysterious. Your muscari looks amazing so I think we should blame it on garden forces beyond our control haha. Excited for all the fun things you're growing this year - I'm very curious to see how the flamingo celosia turns out!
I love your violas! I started some from seed for the very first time this year but they are still baby seedlings. Your pots are so cute. That is one drawback of a traditional garden, you can’t style it. I have pots of potatoes I could move around, but definitely not the same as your stunning flower pots! lol.
I think you’ll like the flamingo celosia. It’s definitely *pink pink* though. I’ve grown it before. It seems to branch more than other celosia, so it gives smaller blooms that can be filler in a bouquet.
That might be my very favorite thing about a container garden--moving the pots around. I have a really bad habit of moving plants around, too, so some of these violas are switched up now. :)
Looking forward to thee celosia. Not sure about the pinkness, but I like the idea of smaller blooms. The Pink Champagne was just kind of awkward, big blooms shooting up on spikes.
Yes! Celosia are a lovely, easy-grow flower, but they do amount to large and awkward stalks. I can see how that’s not ideal for a container garden. In my raised beds, I plant them sooooo close together to prevent them getting gigantic and stalky.
Those violas are roaring! And your terracotta pots are so good. (I'm a sucker for a strategically placed scallop. I have the teeniest scalloped pot I got from the Copenhagen Botanical Garden that I absolutely treasure.) Indeed a bummer about the tulips...but so many fun beauties on the horizon.
Oh, I love the scallops. There' s so many good scalloped pots out there--have you seen thee Ben Wolf ones? So lovely. Yeah, I need to forget about those tulips. :)
OMG, I love the little basket with the violas! The Farm is looking great.
Sorry to hear about your bulbs. That is a real bummer. It's easy to think it was something you did wrong, but you should try a few more times. If the results continue to be the same, then maybe it is something you did or didn't do. If it's intermittent, maybe it was just something that was out of your control. When it comes to growing things it seems like there can be a lot of that, no?
Also, just a reminder, never to sow verbena bonariensis ever again, hahahahaha.
I think I'll take your advice on trying bulbs again! You're right--even if I do something just a little different (like leaving the bulbs covered longer) I could have the results I'm going for. Thank for talking me down. : )
And no worries. Happy to lend an outsider's perspective. Even though I don't grow things, I can definitely relate to being hard on one's self.
When it comes to doing something we care about, we often want to do it to the best of our ability. We get inspired and motivated by examples of what we see as "success,"
and when our attempts at "success" fall short, we tend to feel like we've failed in some way. On the one hand we are 100% correct, we failed to perform to the standard we strived for. On the other hand though, we showed up and did the work. Doing the work is ultimately what transforms our results. Sometimes we have to work hard, and other times it seems to come together with ease, but showing up has to be half the battle.
Also, another thing to consider, "doing the work" is the one thing we DO NOT see when admiring all of those wonderful things in the world that inspire us. We only see the final product in most cases. Maybe if we had more insight into the trials and tribulations that shaped the things we love so much, we might be easier on ourselves? We could also be completely discouraged from even trying, HAHAHAHA! Soooooooo, yeahhhhhhhhh.
Going back to having more insight, this is what I love so much about your Substack. You are not only able to track and share your own experience, but you also "pull back the curtain" in a way. Being able to read about your highs and lows, thought process, and experiences, can be extremely helpful to someone who might be questioning their own gardening abilities. Feeling like you aren't alone in it all can make all the difference.
Thank you, Jason, you're so kind! I think you're right, about doing the work's not always being super glamorous. But I guess I do like to read about other people's successes and failures, too--just not to feel so alone in my own failures, ha ha.
Oh, and that verbena is everywhere! I swear, thousands of baby verbenas are popping up in every pot and even in the cracks on the terrace floor :(
Ahhh I'm sorry about your bulbs!!! I tried some tulips in some new pots I inherited and half of them bloomed and half of them grew a bunch and then just stopped...very mysterious. Your muscari looks amazing so I think we should blame it on garden forces beyond our control haha. Excited for all the fun things you're growing this year - I'm very curious to see how the flamingo celosia turns out!
Ha ha, yes, let's definitely blame garden forces! We're such good gardeners that it can't possibly be our faults. : )
I love your violas! I started some from seed for the very first time this year but they are still baby seedlings. Your pots are so cute. That is one drawback of a traditional garden, you can’t style it. I have pots of potatoes I could move around, but definitely not the same as your stunning flower pots! lol.
I think you’ll like the flamingo celosia. It’s definitely *pink pink* though. I’ve grown it before. It seems to branch more than other celosia, so it gives smaller blooms that can be filler in a bouquet.
That might be my very favorite thing about a container garden--moving the pots around. I have a really bad habit of moving plants around, too, so some of these violas are switched up now. :)
Looking forward to thee celosia. Not sure about the pinkness, but I like the idea of smaller blooms. The Pink Champagne was just kind of awkward, big blooms shooting up on spikes.
Yes! Celosia are a lovely, easy-grow flower, but they do amount to large and awkward stalks. I can see how that’s not ideal for a container garden. In my raised beds, I plant them sooooo close together to prevent them getting gigantic and stalky.
Oh, that would look beautiful! Yeah, not quite the same effect in a pot. : )
Those violas are roaring! And your terracotta pots are so good. (I'm a sucker for a strategically placed scallop. I have the teeniest scalloped pot I got from the Copenhagen Botanical Garden that I absolutely treasure.) Indeed a bummer about the tulips...but so many fun beauties on the horizon.
Oh, I love the scallops. There' s so many good scalloped pots out there--have you seen thee Ben Wolf ones? So lovely. Yeah, I need to forget about those tulips. :)
Oooh checking em out now
OMG, I love the little basket with the violas! The Farm is looking great.
Sorry to hear about your bulbs. That is a real bummer. It's easy to think it was something you did wrong, but you should try a few more times. If the results continue to be the same, then maybe it is something you did or didn't do. If it's intermittent, maybe it was just something that was out of your control. When it comes to growing things it seems like there can be a lot of that, no?
Also, just a reminder, never to sow verbena bonariensis ever again, hahahahaha.
I think I'll take your advice on trying bulbs again! You're right--even if I do something just a little different (like leaving the bulbs covered longer) I could have the results I'm going for. Thank for talking me down. : )
And no more verbena bonariensis!!!!!!!
GET RIGHT OUTTA HERE, VEERBENA! LOL.
And no worries. Happy to lend an outsider's perspective. Even though I don't grow things, I can definitely relate to being hard on one's self.
When it comes to doing something we care about, we often want to do it to the best of our ability. We get inspired and motivated by examples of what we see as "success,"
and when our attempts at "success" fall short, we tend to feel like we've failed in some way. On the one hand we are 100% correct, we failed to perform to the standard we strived for. On the other hand though, we showed up and did the work. Doing the work is ultimately what transforms our results. Sometimes we have to work hard, and other times it seems to come together with ease, but showing up has to be half the battle.
Also, another thing to consider, "doing the work" is the one thing we DO NOT see when admiring all of those wonderful things in the world that inspire us. We only see the final product in most cases. Maybe if we had more insight into the trials and tribulations that shaped the things we love so much, we might be easier on ourselves? We could also be completely discouraged from even trying, HAHAHAHA! Soooooooo, yeahhhhhhhhh.
Going back to having more insight, this is what I love so much about your Substack. You are not only able to track and share your own experience, but you also "pull back the curtain" in a way. Being able to read about your highs and lows, thought process, and experiences, can be extremely helpful to someone who might be questioning their own gardening abilities. Feeling like you aren't alone in it all can make all the difference.
Keep on keepin' on, Rhi!
Thank you, Jason, you're so kind! I think you're right, about doing the work's not always being super glamorous. But I guess I do like to read about other people's successes and failures, too--just not to feel so alone in my own failures, ha ha.
Oh, and that verbena is everywhere! I swear, thousands of baby verbenas are popping up in every pot and even in the cracks on the terrace floor :(
They're coming out of the floor?! HAHAHAHA, oh dear.