Fall Housecleaning

I'm still doggedly trying to clean out my basement of years and years of clutter. The problem lies with my craft supplies and my flea market stock. It's darned near impossible for me to discard any of this stuff but I have to make room for my "handyman" to tear down a wall and lay out new flooring. He's going to hate me when he sees how much he'll have to work around! Oh well, he's an old family friend and very much like a son to me so he'll figure something out.

I love this picture of the Coleus I planted this year. I've never seen another plant that is so varied in color that flowers are not needed. I only planted two tubs which sit at the entrance to my backyard and the color is spectacular. They continue to become fuller and prettier as the season goes on and it will break my heart to pull them up in October.

Another gorgeous leafy plant is the Sweet Potato Vine. The limey green leaves are outstanding and I like to place a few impatiens in the pot with it to give a contrasting burst of color. My garden is very colorful but I'm careful to plant things that need minimum maintenance. I rely heavily on Impatiens because there are so many color choices and they fill out beautifully.

My front garden is full of various perennials that flower from Spring to Fall. I decided this year that, because it gets full sun all afternoon, I'd plant Portulaca among the perennials instead of Impatiens and it's been quite successful. Portulaca seems to thrive on full, hot sun and even drought doesn't bother it. Again, there are many color choices.

I love it when people compliment me on my pretty garden but I'm sure they think I put more effort into it than I actually do. The praise never goes to my head, though, because I remember when we first bought the house in 1968 and I spent many hours transplanting weeds!