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.

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Wow...that's a lot of pot! They are pretty, the more you buy, the more flowers you get to shop for!!! LOVE FLOWERS!! I would love to see how this turns out. Good luck!

[Donna K & Quincy]

Laurie, I never would have taken you for a pothead. :>)

[F, Calla & Luca]

Joanne, not everyone who has a Quincy is a Donna : )

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

If you have too many, possibly you could put them on your Potoon Boat.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Donna- ha ha. Crack pots!

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

I'm a pot person also Laurie, but like Deanna, I love to buy them and then they sit around and my DH always reminds me of the empty pots!  Hold on there, don't mess with my pots, they will have plants in them "someday"!  I think the idea of putting your pots in that area is wonderful and very colorful too!   Your blog has inspired me to start planting, planting and planting!  Hopefully:)  Of course, it all most likely will have to go in our front yard because of "you know who".  She has not learned her "garden manners" yet!

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

Thanks for another good read, Laurie!  I never take my posts inside for the winter- but I guess you do run the risk of crack pots...there are enough of them around here...my new favorite plant is sedum, I even put it in pots. As it grows, I snap off the end and just stick it in the dirt.  They grow like weeds. I have several varieties and mix them up.  the pay off is in the fall when they come into their name Autumn Joy . And best part is they are perenials and come up year after year. (cheap)

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Joanna, I love the pot(s) too. Wow, I see colors so brilliantly.

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

I love all the colorful pots!!! U must update us with more pictures once you plant stuff and show us how it looks!!!

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

Such an inspiring blog!!!  I have a bunch of (not so colorful) empty pots sitting on our back deck.  Every other day or so I say to myself, "I need to get plants in those", but have not yet gotten around to it.  Well, I'm determined to do it THIS WEEKEND!!!  And I really like your idea of popping in some pre-planted containers!!!