Bring some spring to your patio

It’s time to bring some spring to your patio. This morning I was at a Starbucks in Suter Brook Village and I happened to glance over at an older gentleman reading his Province. The only headline I could make out was about bringing spring to your patio. That’s nothing, I thought. I got my kids to help me do it last weekend! It took a bit of time, maybe $30 and some old pots. And now we have some color on the patio. You can do it, too.

Parked rejects

My patio is like a parking lot for plant rejects. Most of the plants were salvaged from landscape projects at work. There was very little use for the plants so I parked them. Why dump them?

So now I am the proud owner of Rudbeckias, which  I left the stalks standing until now as an experiment. On strata sites we remove them soon after flowering.

Vinca is an invasive but I don’t mind the purple flowers. True to its invasive nature, the vinca came out nicely after our horrific winter.

Lysimachia nummularia is my favourite creeping plant. I will forever remember it because one of our past clients obsessed about it weekly. Then one day, while standing in his office, a brain aneurism killed him. Just like that.

Muscari (grape hyacinths) are very cute and popped nicely. I love their color and the fact that they don’t have to be touched.

I also have Pachysandra terminalis in a pot which flowered nicely. One day I want to give it away to someone in need of groundcover plants.

The last reject is a small Azalea. If it flowers this year I will baby it and give it away eventually.

Quick spring color

It rained last weekend and the kids were fighting at home so we drove to the nearest RONA and bought a bag of soil and some plants. Namely pansies and primulas. The kids picked their favourite colors and planted their own pots. Hands on experience. Just the way I like it.

Now the winter is officially over on our patio. What about your place?