Flowers for Beth

I have a wonderful friend named Beth, and we have a yearly tradition. Every year in late May or early June {depending on our varying Utah weather} we head to the garden center to design her pots. We meander down the rows of plants and flowers admiring blossoms, and picking out color palettes while chatting. Beth is great to chat with. She is one of those women, so easy to talk to because she really does care about the new recipe you tried or  plans for your upcoming Disneyland trip. The combination of flowers and Beth makes for a wonderful morning of shopping. But our tradition will be absent this year since I'm in Spain. In leu of a visit to the garden center I've decided to write this post and dedicate it to Beth. Its our virtual shopping trip. All that's missing is the great conversation, the smell of dewy,freshly watered blossoms, and the almost tangible humidity of the greenhouse. Well actually, not the humidity. I'm about 15 minutes from the Mediterranean Sea and learning to live with frizzy hair and slightly soggy potato chips. It's okay though, the Bougainvillea and palm trees are worth it : ) But I digress... Beth has five pots that we design. She has two north facing on either side of her front door, two south facing for the back patio, and another south facing pot that is usually placed on the patio table as a centerpiece. So let's take a look at the pots and Beth, don't forget the red geraniums for the beds in front of the porch.

Let's start with the shade pots on the porch. North facing doorways are the perfect canvas for continuous summer blooms. Without overwhelming southern or western sun, plants never experience that parched,dry look.

For southern facing pots, especially those on patios or decks {where they tend to get even hotter}, proper plant selection is crucial for blossoms that persist through August.

When using containers as centerpieces on tables make sure to check the tags and keep the mature height of the plants in mind. Avoid aggressive trailing plants like potato vine.