A little bit everyday gets you there!

I always think your front door area is really important yet mine is a constant challenge because of the hot sun getting under there late in the day. It is quite lovely to walk in, we have a white picket fence and you go under an arch of jasmine through a gate and up to the front door. But my small pot plants do not last long here, the heat in that spot just is a killer!

So after moving the herb garden I thought I would tackle this. There is also a row of hydrangeas to one side at the front and a row of roses the other side. These usually look pretty good, the hydrangeas take a lot of watering but the roses are really tough.

Today it is blowing a gale. I can't even get a leaf free photo! But it is cooler, around 30, so that is some relief.

I have decided to fake it! The trees are real and grow just fine. (the wire is fairy lights which light them up at night) But the geraniums aren't real. I think they are lovely colour and so far they have fooled everyone. I hope this works and my battle with smaller pots in this spot are over. I guess I'm facing some garden realities.

I have a whole patch to change that is not handling the heat waves. There are about thirty plants that I will move and replace with something tougher. But these can be moved to somewhere with more shade and also I will give the girls some as they are both establishing gardens. Since a pot of anything is $12 to $15 mostly the 30 I have to move and give away are certainly well worth taking the trouble over. Now the weather is still awful and digging up 30 plants and moving them (digging new holes) is daunting. I will treat it like everything else, I'll break it down and do three a day, on the days I can. It's amazing how this works. I can easily move three things today and get them watered in. After this process I'll start replanting and make it look nice.

I learned a big lesson from a lovely lady who lived over the road from me. Her name was Pat and it turned out she had known my Grandfather! He died when I was four so this was amazing to me. Pat was in her nineties and living at home with a huge garden. She was great and I was allowed to pick her apricots, peaches and nectarines! In return I took her eggs. Anyway her garden was lovely. I asked how did she manage it? She had a man mow the lawns and that was all. She said that everyday she pulled four weeds. That's it. We all are overcome with the enormity of things and she just pulled four weeds everyday. I couldn't even see a weed she was so on top of them. So since I have adopted the do a little bit everyday philosophy and it is truly amazing how this adds up! And it works for anything, cleaning, re arranging a room, painting the house, anything!

So this is how I garden. It might not be spectacular but when anyone comes they say "you've done so much in the garden!" and it makes me happy with it. Well, most of the time, on a day like today blowing a gale everything is a mess! But my potted colour looks much nicer than my depressed plants that they have replaced!