Summer is finally showing face around here. My flip-flops are out of storage, I’ve switched out my sweaters for tank tops and my pants for shorts in my dresser, and I’ve come to the conclusion that slowly, and not too surely, I am turning into my mother.
My mother’s garden is spectacular. She’s got everything from roses to irises to gladioli and about a hundred more flowers with names that I can’t pronounce. In the summer, she lives in the garden, watering each morning, pulling weeds, and trimming plants. When I still lived at home, I’d watch from inside, with my morning coffee, wanting none of it. When my parents went away when I was a teenager, I was put in charge of the plants, but the only thing I was good at was eating her cherry tomatoes off the vine. On her return, my mother toured her garden with a frown, assessing the damage. Remarkably, she had a knack for bringing back to life the plants I thought I’d slain for good. But regardless of my mother’s healing touch, I was the black thumb of the family.
Over a decade has passed since I’ve lived at my parents’ house, but this is the first summer I will be spending in a new home that I’ve only been living in since the fall. Impressed by the size of the deck, my mother called a few months ago to say she had a “few pots” for the new place. A few pots turned out to be about twenty five, and now the deck looks nothing short of a forest. A forest, full of annuals and perennials (I had to look up the difference between the two), that I have to keep alive.
So far, so good, I’m pleased to say. With the exception of a few snap dragons that are not living up to their strong, fierce name, and blue violets that have chosen to turn black, I’ve done pretty well. Well enough to show them off, even. But the plastic pots looked cheap and all the plants were positioned on the same level, so before I invited over any company, I gave my deck a make-over.
Cymax has brand new products for the outdoors, which suited my deck to a tee. With the convenience of online shopping, I was able to bring even more life to my patio. Without killing a thing, I uprooted and replanted my forest into quality H Potter Sonoma Planters, which are made of stunning stainless steel with a rustic copper finish that highlights my plants beautifully. Now, my flowers are displayed using different levels on artistic Alfresco Home Round Mosaic Plant Stands, which come in sets of two or three, and also on a multi-level Pangaea Victorian Iron Plant Stand. I even bought a garden wall trellis by Rustic Natural Cedar Co. for my honeysuckle, and to add that last touch of blissful summery ambience to my now favorite place in my home, I have a ceramic glazed water fountain.
My plants are thriving and I am very proud to say that I haven’t used an ounce of chemical fertilizer in my soil, but I have added 100% organic and biodegradable CocoLite Bricks, which are a natural alternative to peat moss. Although not a fertilizer, these bricks can be added to any potting soil to help retain moisture and nutrients in plants. I’d like to think the healthy state of my plants is solely a result of my newly obtained green thumb, but I know the soil has every bit as much to do with their success as I do.
So, the ambience of the deck is taken care of on a botanical level. It’s the rest of the deck that now needs work. In order to show off my floral successes, my next purchases will be more new products from Cymax, like a Pangaea Garden Torch to light up the deck for dinner parties, and patio furniture so that my guests can eat, drink, and relax in style. And because summer weather around here can be temperamental, and the evenings still get chilly, maybe even a patio heater.
But the most important part of a garden party? Food and drinks, of course. Cymax now sells outdoor grills, like the Napoleon Grills Prestige, that make summer cooking fun and easy, as you can spend your time with guests instead of running back and forth from the kitchen to your outdoor space. To complete your garden of bliss by keeping those summer ales cold, add the finishing touch of a beverage cooler, and I assure you, your guests will be satiated and delighted.
I am going away on vacation in a few days and have asked my mother to care for my plants while I’m gone. After her initial shock that my plants are still alive, she agreed. I wish I could be there to see her expression when she walks out on the deck. I have a feeling that she will be very, very pleased with me.
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