Serendipity

Sometimes the most well thought out plans can disappoint while the haphazard yield delightful results. I guess it has everything to do with expectations. So if I were to give any advice to novice gardeners (among whose ranks I count myself), it would be to not think so much.

When I go on my big plant shopping trips, I usually have with me a fairly detailed list. I don't want to end up buying plants for, say 25 pots, when I only have 20 to fill. Of course, once I get to the nursery, I have a tendency to become distracted despite my best efforts at discipline. So it often happens that I buy some plants for which I did not have a specific purpose. I might be drawn to a particular color or bloom and I pick it up thinking I'll figure out what to do with it later. This container was put together with some of those "impulse" plants--they were sort of left over but I thought they might go together well. I didn't really put a whole lot of thought into color coordination although I did keep in mind the 'thriller, filler, spiller' concept. Furthermore, I dug up a creeping jenny from another pot and stuck it in this one.

Here's a list of the plants: 'Princess' Pennisetum (1); Greek Basil (1); St. John's Wort (1); Coleus 'Stained Glassworks Copper' (1) Calibrachoa 'Calli Sunrise' (3); Creeping Jenny (1). It didn't look like much on the day I planted it a few weeks ago, but now, I am actually pleasantly surprised. I love it when that happens.

Bookshelf: Container Gardening Books