Musical Chairs of Container Gardening

The Musical Chairs of Container Gardening

by Alice Jane-Marie Massa

                One of the great advantages of a container garden is periodically being able to re-arrange the containers.  As I move the fifteen to seventeen containers of my little garden, I compare this enjoyable summertime activity to Musical Chairs.  Do you remember the game Musical Chairs which we used to play at birthday parties or other childhood parties?  Well, my weight-lifting exercise of the summer is lifting and moving the containers of my garden.

Each warm season, I like to add something new to my little garden.  This year, the “something new” is a container of zinnias which I started from seed–right before the cold snap of May.  Although the sprouting took a bit longer than expected, the zinnias have quickly grown and thickened to be strong plants.  How eager I am for the blooms to remind me of my maternal grandmother’s zinnia garden–located to the side of her large building which once housed the grocery store, Italian bakery, dance hall, and residence.  Yes, her garden to the east and the west of the water pump contained only an abundance of two varieties of zinnias in the colors of yellow-gold, autumnal orange and magenta.  The border of her zinnia garden was made with Clinton (Indiana) bricks placed upright at a diagonal.  Somewhere in my mind’s photo album, I keep a picture of my grandmother, with her long hair braided into a bun at the nape of her neck, wearing her typical black-and-white dress to mid-calf, bending over to tend to her zinnias in my hometown of Blanford, Indiana.  Thus, I thought the time had come for my planting zinnias.  Only one problem!  The lovely leaves make me itch!  Oh, well, I hope the zinnias will thrive in my “Musical-Chairs Garden.”

                Currently, near my front stoop is only one container of coral pink geraniums.  The front of my townhouse faces west and has been getting full, very hot sun many days of recent weeks.  In my garden behind my townhouse, joining the zinnias are more coral geraniums, white geraniums, and pink geraniums.  In the herb department, I have a Genovese basil and another basil plant, along with two rosemary plants, a sage plant, and a spearmint plant.  On Mother’s Day weekend, I began my garden with one container of lavender which is a lush and lovely plant.  How I do enjoy the fragrances of my garden–especially after watering or after a rare rain this season!  Although my pink tulips, purple hyacinths, and mini daffodils are no longer playing “Musical Chairs” in my garden, my little peacock container still sprightly sits atop the ledge of my deck on the east side to hold onto the silk flowers that survived the winter snows. 

                On the café table, between a coral geranium and a rosemary plant is my “Garden-ian Angel.”  My new sculpture addition to my garden this year is a statue of Saint Francis of Assisi.  As is typical, the Saint Francis statue has a fawn near the saint’s left knee, a bird on his left shoulder, and a bird in his right hand; the left hand of Saint Francis is open upward.  Recently, Saint Francis is between a white geranium and a basil plant.  He rests upon one of the end tables beside my bench.  The first day I placed the statue, my Leader Dog Willow placed her head upon the table at the foot of the statue.  Almost each day, Willow still walks over to the statue of Saint Francis–just as if she knows that Saint Francis is the patron saint of animals, the environment, and Italy.

                Thanks to Facetime, I have given garden tours to my sister in Colorado and to my aunt in Minnesota.  I do relish a great deal of conversational mileage from such a little garden and look forward to more Face time garden tours of my “Musical-Chairs Garden.” 

                Willow and I thoroughly enjoy our little garden, and we hope that you also have a garden to tend and enjoy this summer.

Best wishes for a happy gardening summer!

Alice and Leader Dog Willow

June 23, 2021, Wednesday

Advertisement