Now the Planting is Done

After contemplating my window box for a few days, I decided that it needed a little help. Eventually I decided to buy more of the same Sorbet Beaconsfield violas to add to the ends of the box. I'm glad I did. I realized later that there was no room for trailing plants. The ends of the box are jammed against the railing.

I bought the second box of violas from a local food co-op. They weren't in as good shape as the others. Some grew taller trying to reach light. I put them in back. Two Sorbet Beaconsfield violas went in back and I put three in front with a fourth slightly farther back on the inside. I pinched all the flowers off because somewhere I read that British gardening expert Monty Don recommended it for getting the roots to develop further. A couple violas are kind of stringy. I learned that I could pinch them back like the cat mint and did so. I think the planter looks better.

The cat mint is still small, but looks like it's happy. I pinched both plants back to make them branch more. It's in the back to the right of the purple verbena. There are a lot of little shoots and some flower buds. I love the colors in this photo.

I bought two verbena I didn't need. One was an upright one so I paired that with the other in this pot. I added mostly blue lobelia with a little white. The medium blue lobelia was hard to find. Someone at a local garden center said it was more popular. 

My flower pots make me inordinately happy so far.  I don't know why. I hope I'm consistent in watering them and that they do better this year.