Thank you for finding That Old House amidst the chaos of the Internet. We are delighted that you are here.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Hangin' 'Em High


Week before last, in this post, I wrote about the
ferns we hang each summer on our front porch.
Sometimes asparagus ferns.  Sometimes Boston.  

Most of you liked the Boston's leafy, beefy good looks,
but also understood the lure of the asparagus' airy, easygoing ways.


Visits to my usual garden center haunts yielded no Boston ferns at all,
and my no-fail source for big healthy asparagus-es yielded only dinky little ones.  

But from that grower, I got her last Balcony Geranium.  
She doesn't look like much, yet.  Come back in July!
Have you ever marveled at the enormous cascading geraniums
you see in Germany and Switzerland?  
Picture from The Christian Science Monitor
This is one of those.  I've never grown one,
so I've hung her up with the Boston boys, and will hope for the best.

Please ignore the raggedy old wreath, and Howard's collection of coiled-up extension cords.
Yes, we live like hillbillies.

So where did I get those Boston ferns,
if they were not at the garden centers?
Same place we buy our hummus and our haloumi.
Trader Joe's!
Three gorgeous big bad Boston boys,
waiting right inside the door of our local Trader Joe's.
Come to mama!

And they did.  Anne took an extra shopping cart, and we piled
3 big hanging ferns and our groceries all in together.  Serendipity!

The town we used to live in has a few wholesale growers who sell to the public. 
My favorite grower had the Balcony Geranium, and she also had absolutely gorgeous
Fuchsia plants, those wacky, over-the-top wonders of nature.
Yes, fuchsia are finicky but Anne fell in love with them, and she's promised
to either keep up with the care herself, or nag me till I do it.
Madame Fuchsia is on the front porch, on a suitably shabby pedestal
that I got at our church's yard sale eons ago.

Anne took a batch of fuchsia pictures this afternoon.




 I mean, really . . . how amazing are these flowers?

Ain't they purty?

I'm not sure how long they'll last, but my grower friend only charged me
$7 for the basket, so if Madame Fuchsia kicks the bucket after a few weeks,
I'll think of her as cut flowers - beautiful while she lasted.
Ooops.  At the top of the steps, we parked an empty iced tea jug that we use as a watering can.
See?  Hillbillies.  I told you.
Almost in bloom: the irises behind the house.  Finally!
And so many plants being tucked into the dirt here at
That Old House.
Stop by next Wednesday for some garden and patio pictures. -- Cass

Link Party:
Visit A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday.
Go party like a blogger!  Click here.

11 comments:

  1. I love ferns on my wrap around porch. Your porch always looks so pretty...jug or not! My friend gets carried away with her ferns, her husband and I frequently think she needs a fern intervention!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ferns look wonderful on big porches like yours, and these are beauties. Have you ever tried bringing them in over the winter? Mine do pretty well...the Boston variety. The balcony geraniums are spectacular. I never heard of them until now so I will begin the hunt. I love fuschia, too, but the wind wreaks havoc on them. I hope they hang on, just for Anne!

    XO,
    Jane

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your front porch is so pretty- I love the fern and the fuschia...wow! I can't keep that alive, no matter how much I tend to it. LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  4. The ferns and fuschia look lovely. I use fuschia's on my craftsman porch every summer. The key to them is fertilizer. I usually do it every other week otherwise they stop flowering.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Beautiful!!! Stunning, actually. I wish I could send you my amazing geraniums at my front door; they are giants and very very soon it will be too hot for them to live. They are winter flowers here in the desert. I'm pretty sure just this morning I heard them whispering about vacationing in New Jersey for the summer.....

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your hanging baskets look beautiful already Cass and the fuschia is gorgeous. They will attract hummingbirds so keep your eyes open for them. We're getting LOTS of rain here but I went to the green house today and bought a few annuals for my window boxes. I'll get around to planting them on Saturday but won't put them out until next week if and when the sun shines. Blessings, Pam

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your hanging ferns and Geranium basket look beautiful. They told me today at the garden center that the growing season is behind because of late frosts, I noticed that they are just now bringing the Spring flowers to the growers in greater varieties.
    I've never had a Fushia but ooh, how I love to look at them, it really will be the showstopper of your porch flowers.
    Thanks for sharing your pretties.
    ~Jo

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love Boston Ferns, I always buy them at Lowe's or Walmart, the price is right at either place for me. The Fushia is gorgeous, I love your porch and those red chairs!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Beautiful ferns and geranium! Your porch is gorgeous and so is that fushia plant...love the rich colors. They don't last long in OKC so I just admire them in others gardens!
    Miss Bloomers

    ReplyDelete
  10. I admire your energy to keep up with container plants outside. Mine look great for a few weeks, then I forget to water them, play catch up trying to revive them, and finally toss them in the trash or give them away. Every spring, though, I look longingly at the selection of wonderful baskets and annuals that would be so pretty in the fern stands on my porch. Perhaps I'll give it one more go, with water polymer in the soil to give the poor little things a fighting chance.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Cass

    Finally had a chance to pop in:)
    I love Boston ferns, but the seed geranium looks great among them. And the fuscia is gorgeous!
    I always want to "pop" hte blooms before they open:)

    xo

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting That Old House; it's always exciting to find new comments -- they are treasured! Because of increasing spam, I have reluctantly eliminated "Anonymous" commenting. Legitimate anonymous commenters, please forgive me! You might try using "Open ID" instead. Blogger's spam software worked for a good long time, but, sadly, no longer.