Our Outdoor container plants

And our OTHER project includes the container plants that I am growing for our patio. I have planted seeds for:

• Marigolds (because they are easy. They sprouted almost immediately, delighting my 4-year-old.)
• Dill
• Shasta daisies
• Chives

Some of them I will also be growing outdoors, but I thought it would be more exciting for my son to see them growing more "upclose." I have plans for more but have not quite decided yet.

Our Outdoor Plants

So far, I have part of our front garden planted. I am growing:

• Cosmos (yellow, orange, red)
• Dwarf sunflowers
• White marigolds
• Blue stars (if they come up)

I also mixed in some dill. But then we had thunderstorms, so I'm not sure if the seeds washed away? I'll be interested to see if any come up, and in the meantime, I'm going to try and get the other side of the garden planted. I may substitute lavender for the blue stars.

We have also started indoors for planting outdoors 2 different kinds of giant sunflowers.

• Sunflower giant sungold
• Sunflower giganteus

The sunflower seeds have sprouted! I can't wait to plant them outdoors, although I really want our fence to be built before I do. Hurry up, fence company.

A Beginning Indoors

The beautiful mid-Atlantic spring and moving into our new home has inspired me to garden indoors and out. I am fairly inexperienced at gardening. I used to "help" my parents a little when I was a preteen, in their very low-maintenance, easy care kind of flower garden. I tried to grow vegetables once, but sort of forgot about them. As a college student and in my early marriage, I grew houseplants. My beloved cat (who has since died) destroyed them, but I was able to keep several on my patio in San Diego.

My two current cats do not seem interested in destroying plants, so I can have houseplants again. I am very careful to choose plants which are safe for both children and cats. Unfortunately, this does limit my selection somewhat.

My indoor plants so far include:

• Spider plant
• Parlor palm
• Aluminum plant

All 3 are rather small. I like to buy them small both because they are cheaper than way and because I like to watch them grow from a tiny baby plant into a big plant.

I also purchased seeds to grow:

• pink polka dot plant
• ponytail palm
• coleus mix

I hope to have a very nice variety--plants are my preferred mode of interior decorating.