Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary...

Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?

With silver bells, and cockle shells,

And pretty maids all in a row.

I'm so thrilled with my new "gardener"! Not only does he mow the lawns, but also he loves to make up pots of flowers to brighten the exterior of the house. So far we have 8 fuschias in pots hanging from the patio overhang, 2 large pots of pink cosmos and yellow daisies, and 5 different tomato plants in the back yard. He bought 2 soaker hoses and wound them through the back gardens so that all the plants and flowers get a good drink every other day or so (we're on water restrictions here now). He also fixed my other two hoses that had leaks in them.

In the front, he put together 5 pots of osteospermum (2 purple, 1 pale yellow) and pink daisy-like flowers. The two white osteospermum that weren't doing very well are now replanted in the front garden to see if they'll perk up. Along with those, we have giant marigolds that are going crazy with glee whenever they get a drink of water mixed with "Miracle Grow." My contribution was buying a hanging planter for the front door.

Here are a couple of tiger lilies (cuttings were given to me by a girlfriend last year) and they look amazing!

My "gardener" tied up my climbing rose and it's blooming lovely now! I've tried for 5 years to get that rose to bloom, but suddenly it's gone crazy - must be in love. I think it's in competition with the tomatoes he planted at the sunny side of the house because they're also growing like crazy - we'll be eating a lot of salads and sandwiches this summer and probably giving lots away, too.

Not only does my "gardener" do all the outside gardening for me, he also buys me the most beautiful bouquets of flowers all the time. (See previous posts) I think he deserves to have a little R & R outside in the sun - I'll take him a beer, if he doesn't already have one.