Today...

Today I have to go buy a gallon of milk. While I'm out, I'll head to town to peruse the aisles of the nurseries. I've been looking at empty porch railing boxes for too long!  It's time now to fill them...actually it was time a few weeks ago.

What color will it be that will grace the porch?  Last year we had red salvia and some geraniums, with hanging baskets of ferns above and a couple of potted red rose bushes in front of the hollies at the front of the porch. It was really quite pretty. The red showed nicely from the road against the backdrop of the gray house and the white railings.  I have determined that it must be something bright, in order to be seen well from the road.  The trouble with last year's salvia in the rail boxes was that they got too lanky. Sitting in the Adirondack chair, I couldn't see anything through the red blooms.   So, this year, it must be something lower....and maybe trailing.

I wish I could find something that would bloom all summer long and be perennial, but it doesn't seem that there is anything of the kind.  Annuals are likely to be long blooming, but do not return. Perennials return, but are usually short bloomers.  I don't like spending so much money on things that just die after a few months. We want to offer a pleasant welcome to anyone who approaches our front door...colorful without being garish, attractive and not over-stated.  What a quandry!

So, off I go, in search of the perfect floral decorations for the front of the house. It's all about 'curb appeal', you know.