I Think I am Addicted to Pots!!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I realize my title is very alarming and you are all probably wondering if I live in Colorado or Washington, but before an intervention is staged, let me be clear, I am talking about large clay pots.  I’ve got a serious problem and even though this is a dog website and this has nothing to do with dogs, I feel the need to share.  We are finally enjoying some spring like weather, which means we are getting our outdoor decorations and lawn furniture out and sprucing up our yard.  The yard we had when we moved in was much different than the yard we have now with two Doodles. The dogs tear through every inch of our yard and Vern runs through bushes and under evergreens like he doesn’t even see them.  Honestly, I can hear branches cracking as he slips, and not so gracefully I might add, under them to make a surprise move on Fudge. Unfortunately, when you are a large, dirty white, dog crashing through underbrush and small places where you do not truly fit, the element of surprise does not work in your favor.  Fudge is always two steps ahead of him, but Vern has pluck, and no one can accuse him of ever giving up.  Our yard is proof of this statement.

 

Last year, John had to rip out a good deal of ground cover because Vern used it as safe base when he had Fudge’s ball or could often be found lying in the middle of it watching the world go by.  This left a large area that needed something and two adults who couldn’t quite agree on what that something should be.  John likes Hostas and I like them far less. Now, before the National Organization of Hosta Lovers start sending me hate mail, I know this plant serves a purpose, it is easily maintained, and can fill in a lot of space, but I still think it is boring.   The problem is John and I do not agree about planting plants and flowers and he will take a large space and plant just one or two of something and I believe more is more.  All summer long he tells me it is going to look great when it grows and fills in and I think it looks like he planted two Charlie Brown Christmas trees with not much hope. 

I like to start out the summer season with everything looking good and not staring at the planted areas and repeating over and over, “soon, Laurie, soon.”  My neighbor loves to tell me what to plant here and there in my planters and I nod and pretend I will do it and then run up to a local store and buy planters already filled with lots of flowers and pop them into my containers.  My way is immediately prettier and saves an impatient person the hassle of waiting for everything to grow. 

 

Where I am envisioning colorful pots filled with exotic flowers, one or two measly hostas with the promise from John that they are going to look great someday are just not good enough. This more is more attitude spills over into every aspect of my decorating and sometimes gets me into trouble.  I consider myself to be very lucky in that John doesn’t care what I do in our house as long as it does not affect him in any way.  I could bring home a giant stuffed Panda Bear and put it in our living room and the only time he would complain is if I asked him to help me move it to a different location.  I can count on John’s middle finger the number of times he said he was really unhappy with something I brought home and it happened when we were still living in an apartment.  I had coveted an antique spinning wheel that I saw every time we went to one of our favorite antique shops for quite some time and finally somehow we could afford it, I took the plunge one day, and brought it home and set it up in front of our large patio window. 

It was exactly as I had envisioned in my head all those months of longing, except its placement prevented John from reclining in his recliner.  Personally, I thought it was something we could live with, but John thought otherwise and forced me to choose between him and an antique.  I am not going to lie and say the choice was easy, but in the end, I realized it was not going to sound right if our kids kept pointing to my beloved spinning wheel and telling their friends, “she chose THAT over our father.”

 

I would like to say that is the only time I have brought something home that no one but me seemed to like, but I would be lying.  Take for instance, my St. Francis statue that caught my eye because he was yellow.  Plus, he was on a clearance rack for $40, marked down from $200, because one of the rabbits was missing an ear.  Luckily, I knew John could fix that ear since the missing piece was included, and I know a steal when I see one. A Saint on the clearance rack is not something you are going to find every day, if you ask  me. He also matched my walls and is the Patron Saint of Animals, which includes Doodles, and it seemed like a win win situation to me.

I love him, but Hayley said he has creepy eyes and Megan said she was going to start buying me every ugly thing she could find and hand it to me and say, “I bought this hideous thing for you because it is  yellow.”  They both said when I die; Salvation Army is going to be getting a boatload of stuff with a St. Francis statue on top of the box, because they doubted they could stuff him into one of those large donation boxes we have around town at various locations.  When I mentioned that they might want to wait to go through my things until their grief at my loss subsided, they said they would be sure to dress in black as they loaded up the car.  All John said when I handed him the statue and the rabbit ear was, “You aren’t even Catholic.”  Thankfully, since it didn’t block his recliner, he was fine with my Saint. 

 

Well, this week I brought up the subject of getting a large fountain for that space.  I saw a really cool one up at the store and while John liked it, he did remind me that the dogs might think it is a drinking fountain.  I pondered that and decided that nothing spoils a good fountain like two large dogs continually sucking on the bubbler and blocking the water from flowing, so we nixed that idea.

Well, while I was in the store, I noticed a wide array of beautiful pots and came up with the plan to stagger several pots in different sizes and colors in that vacant spot on our lawn.  I figured I would fill them in with flowers or evergreens and have my very own pot garden. 

My only problem now is I can’t seem to stop buying pots.  I just keep finding one more in a cool shape or color and I just know I can work it in to my theme somehow. 

Oh, and before you say, “don’t you have a 5 foot Rooster, too?” all my pots match one of the colors on my big cock-a-doodle-do.  I am not an amateur, folks! 

Plus, it is not like I am dressing up those large geese statues you see out and about, or have one of those wood cutouts of a woman bending over, or even six pink, plastic flamingos in my yard. I mean I am not opposed to any of those things, but I just think a jumbo Rooster and matching pots makes a more tasteful statement!

I realized today, as I looked around my yard at all my pots, that it might be time to be done.  John is having trouble supporting my habit and I thought about writing a book called Pot to see if I could help bring in some cash.  I figured if I offered a no refund policy, by the time people realized I was talking about large, clay pots, the money would be in my bank account or handed over to some cashier in exchange for more pots.  So far, I have come up with the opening couple of lines…remember, it is supposed to draw you into the story…One Pot, Two Pot, Red Pot, Blue Pot, if I bring home one more pot, you might hear a gunshot.  It may need a little work, but I have all the time in the world since I gave up shopping for pots momentarily.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

F, I am jumping the gun this year, too. Tomorrow, we will make a huge dent in all those pots :)

Cathy, Thank you!! That makes two of us :) LOL

DJ, Thanks! You are probably spending too much time taking photos!

[DJ & Chance]

LOL, how did I miss this?  I love colorful pots and I say the more the better.  

[Cathy, Fozzie & Shaggy]

Laurie I'm with you in wanting the instant WOW when I'm done planting, none of this waiting untill they "grow and fill in" the space! 

[F, Calla & Luca]

L, I am always teetering on the brink. I am supposed to be doing paperwork today but I just ran a few errands and bought scads of plants : ) it really is earlier than I do planting in pots but for some reason I am jumping the gun : ) yesterday the biggies got planted, not by me, so now I get to have my hands in the dirt. Not that I haven't pulled literally hundreds of weeds. I'm so glad all your plants are real.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

F, Wow...you couldn't have been up very long by the time you went over the edge :) It usually takes me a little longer. I must be getting stronger...LOL!! All my flowers and plants are real this year!

[Camilla and Darwin]

F, this semester I learned about xeriscaping in my Landscape Architecture class and I love the idea! I think when I have a house rather than an apartment with strict rules, I'd love to do something like that! This is assuming that I can get my act together and learn how to keep a plant alive. :-) I will have to spend more time in the garden group.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Definitely something to work on. Join the Garden Group. Grass is a water guzzler in states like yours but there are native, xeric plants that have adapted to the conditions. I even use some of them for places that dry out and I don't want to water. High Country Gardens ( http://www.highcountrygardens.com) specializes in this sort of thing. Plant a cactus. This year is shaping up to be different but I think I watered the garden about once or twice in the last two years aside from a small number of pots. And taking water out of my well doesn't really threaten anyone in drier places I think.

[Camilla and Darwin]

F, environmentalists like me may also be appalled at the amount of water gardens and grass take up, there is no watering fake flowers. (plus I got my fake flowers from a second hand store, so reused) I live in the second most dry state you know!  :-) 

Unfortunately for me, I've been given plants and I CAN NOT keep them alive. It's very sad. Perhaps something to work on? LOL

[F, Calla & Luca]

I tried to stay quiet but two comments about fake flowers put me over my limit. UGH. Unless they are really fake, like big glass sculptures, this is a travesty. Camilla you are so talented and a nurturer. Surely you can get some easy annuals and water them. That's all it takes to have flowers til winter. Real flowers. Environmentalists such as you are should be appalled at making flowers out of petrochemicals or something that are not biodegradable and are ugly. Remember your paper on sustainable dogs. Next semester there should be one on sustainable gardens : )

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Thanks, Camilla! I had fake geraniums for years :) They were so easy! LOL