In the spring, I got 3 gerber daisies (an orange one, a yellow one and an orange and yellow one) and put them in a pot on my deck. Gerbers are perennial in zones 8-10 and I live in zone 7.

Their blooming was spotty and I never had a nice grouping of all the colors together after I’d had them for a couple of weeks. NOW, I have healthy greenery and no flowers. If I bring them inside, they will probably make it through the winter and may bloom erratically next year.

I can’t decide if I care about them. I like the pot, though, and may just prefer something else in it. Maybe the pink amaryllis that’s been toying with my affections all summer.

I got the amaryllis thinking it would at least make leaves this year. Three times I’ve lifted it up from where it was apparently doing nothing intending to throw it in the compost barrel and found healthy roots.

My life is so difficult.

A couple of months ago, I promised myself that I would not buy any more plants for a year. Instead, I intend to get everything already here in good shape. Of course, I decided that after I had made another large purchase. I have mostly stuck to that, though. I did replace a gardenia and an echinacea that was destroyed by the patio installation.

I have a bag of 30 mixed tulip bulbs that will go in the front bed next week. It’s too warm here for tulips to do well after their first year in the ground. A few of the red ones I planted last year will come back. But, not many and definitely not all. I don’t ever get them out of the ground before the leaves die back too far to find them. So, tulips are kind of annuals for me.

The cuttings I took from a variegated hydrangea the Monday after Memorial Day did well through the summer and went in the ground the Monday after Labor Day. I’m hopeful about that. It’s very small and I don’t expect blooms for 2 or 3 years. But, I haven’t seen one anywhere available to purchase. So, it was this or nothing.

I’ve moved the cannas from around the well. They haven’t been thriving there. We had very few blooms this year. Now, they’re off the patio in front of the fence. I think that should work well. I enhanced the soil some and have been keeping them watered and mulched. I’ll know next summer. I’m expecting a jumble of colors because I couldn’t tell exactly there there different varieties started and stopped.

It’s going to finally start staying cool on Friday and the bat flower is going to have to come in over night. It won’t need to stay in until temps are going to stay below 50ºF every night. It doesn’t love the decreased humidity in our house. But, if I leave it out even one night of real cold, it will die. I put it in a pot made for me by a friend of my kid because we share the plant. Taylor Kennedy does lovely pottery.

When temps are ready to stay closer to 40ºF, I’ll bring the black elephant ear in.

I’ve been drying herbs all summer and the last batch is ready to be picked and added to my jars. And the stick I have used for a hanger can go into the laundry closet until next year.

I have been sprinkling cypress vine seeds by the fence on the left side of the back yard. It’s been coming back very consistently since I planted it by the stoop several years ago and the hummingbirds love it. It reseeds itself; it’s not perennial. I gave seeds from it to a friend 2 years ago and she sent me a picture of it trying to eat her mail box.

The seed package held red, pink and white seeds. But, we rarely see white ones. Most are red. I think having it swarming all over the fence will be a nice way to keep the neighbor’s dogs from paying attention to what goes on in my yard. I will mail seeds to anyone that wants some. You’ve been warned about how they spread.