mandevilla, redstar-spike, ianelli sprite and fernsunrise – 5:53, sunset – 8:42
14 hours and 39 minutes of daylight

 
For the last two years, I’ve been working on creating a number of set-pieces that would only require annuals to fill the various pots. Last year I purchased what I thought would be the last set of pots – 3 large, plastic things that I imagined would last and in which I would plant vegetables. They were a disaster – drainage was so bad that for most of the growing season they were filled with water. My only option was to break the trays at the bottom and even then the soil never got dry. This year, I replaced the cheap pots with a planter I built out of wolmanized. OK, that wasn’t too bad, I now had a decent sized vegetable-bed. But then I discovered I needed another pot to fill the space where the bird-bath was. (Birds never came to take a bath. And, it was either block/fill the space or have the dogs sneak in behind the pots and rocks.)

This morning, I set out for Lowe’s, Home Depot and the various North Hills greenhouses looking to find something that would block/fill the space. I found this amazingly tall pot at Brenckle’s Greenhouses and there sitting on the concrete next to it was a large Mandevilla. I checked that the plant fit into the tall pot and it did. I walked out and headed home. No need to do any more shopping.

The title refers to the items in the back-row – red Mandevilla in the tall bronze pot, a Cordyline Red Star Spike, an Alfonso Ianelli garden sprite and a large fern. The twisty vine above the fern is the wisteria coming up from its bed in the corner.
 
15 hours 31 minutes of sunlight in Sault Ste Marie