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First, the side of the stairs container garden. Got one lone Bachelor Button still hanging in there. The mini roses are blooming. Aren’t they cute? The night-blooming jasmine I bought last year has grown quite a bit since I put it in Al’s Gritty Mix in a whiskey half-barrel. The gaillardia are blooming like crazy; salvia and lantana are blooming nicely too. Oh, the white thing around that one pot is a wind shield I rigged up. I planted some cosmos Sonata seeds in there, but it’s been so windy that the seeds that did sprout just dried up and died. Or blew away, maybe. Planted some more, and this time put the sun/wind shield around it. Hope it works.

Side-Of-The Stairs Container Garden

Speaking of night-blooming jasmine, it’s blooming right now. When I open the door at night, it smells like…sugar, kind of. Reminds me of how cotton candy smells when it’s being made.

A branch of jasmine buds

Here’s a view from the top of the stairs.

Side-of-the-stairs from the top.
This little guy stayed still long enough to get a pic while I was out with the camera yesterday.

Butterflies love gaillardia.

Butterfly garden, beginnings…
Speaking of butterflies, here’s the humble beginnings of my butterfly garden. The pots with the pipes are cleome. As I’ve mentioned, it tends to be windy here, so I expect I’ll have to stake the cleome. The windowbox has Carpet Cosmos, which are only supposed to grow 6″ tall, and in the middle, 3 red penta. Two of the seeds have sprouted, but the babies are really small, about the size of thyme when it first sprouts. Hope they make it. The black container has just-transplanted blue salvia and some Cosmos Bright Lights seeds. The round pot has blue ageratum seeds, just planted today. The seeds are so tiny, and it was so windy, that I was afraid to try to plant them until the wind died down a bit. Also want to try zinnia, Cosmos Sonata mix, and maybe even a tithonia. Don’t tell me it won’t do well in a container; I refuse to accept that until I try! More on that as it evolves. Need more potting soil first; hoping to go get it tomorrow.

One last pic and I’m done for now.

Mums and gazania
A while ago, I posted about dividing mums and gazania. Here’s a pic of the windowbox, blooming like crazy. I swear, I cut off all the buds when I divided the mums, but they would not be denied. They wanted to bloom, so I’m letting them. I think we probably have a long enough growing season to let them bloom again in fall. Seen it happen before with my mums.