Yesterday we started adding color to our Second Spring garden with pansies and violas. Today we're going... 𝐔𝐏! ⬆️🌸 Because one of the tricks to creating a beautiful container is having plants at different heights. And today's flower can give us exactly that. Meet the wonderfully colorful... 🌸 𝐒𝐍𝐀𝐏𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍! Snapdragons produce tall spikes covered with flowers in shades of: ❤️ Red 🩷 Pink 💛 Yellow 🧡 Orange 🤍 White 💜 Purple 🌸 And all sorts of beautiful combinations in between. But before we talk about growing them... We need to answer the question every child—and quite a few adults—eventually asks: 🐲 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐒𝐍𝐀𝐏𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍? 😂 𝐆𝐨 𝐀𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝...𝐒𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫! Take an individual snapdragon flower and gently squeeze the sides near its base. If you find just the right spot... 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫'𝐬 "𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡" 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬! Release it... and the mouth closes again. It looks a little like a tiny dragon opening and closing its jaws. Hence: 𝐒𝐍𝐀𝐏 + 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍. 🐲🌸 If you have grandchildren nearby, you now have approximately 15 minutes of free entertainment. You're welcome. 😂 🍂 𝐒𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 Here's why they belong in our Second Spring garden. Snapdragons are 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐥-𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬. They often struggle or slow down during intense summer heat, particularly in warmer climates. But when temperatures begin cooling? They can put on a beautiful show. That's why you may see garden centers filling back up with snapdragons as fall approaches. While some summer flowers are preparing to call it quits... Snapdragons may be saying: "𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲. 𝐌𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧." 🌸 ❄️ 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 Those flowers look delicate. The plants aren't nearly as fragile as they appear. Established snapdragons can tolerate chilly temperatures and light frost. Exactly how long they'll continue blooming depends on your climate, variety, and weather conditions. In mild climates, they can perform for a surprisingly long time. In colder climates, they'll eventually encounter temperatures that are simply too severe.

This is a garden I am designing for a friend with fibro. It is about 1/2 done right now. Next step is to clean up some poison ivy, finish the mulching, and plant some shade loving plants.

Yesterday our snapdragons took the Second Spring garden UP with tall spikes of colorful flowers. Today we're coming back down a little closer to the edge of the container. But don't mistake smaller for boring. Because today's flower brings us: 🌸 Beautiful color ❄️ Cool-weather toughness 🌿 Blue-green foliage 🐝 Pollinator appeal 👃 And a fragrance you may recognize from somewhere completely unexpected... 𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐒! Meet...🌸 𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐔𝐒! 👃 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭...𝐒𝐌𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐈𝐓! If you find dianthus at the garden center, lean in and smell the flowers. Depending on the variety, you may notice a sweet, spicy fragrance that reminds you of: 𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐒. Some varieties have a stronger fragrance than others, but that spicy scent is one of the characteristics dianthus has been known for. And suddenly we have another reason to put flowers near the patio chair. Sometimes we choose container plants for what we SEE. But don't forget about what we can: 👃 Smell 🖐️ Touch 🐝 Watch 🍃 Hear moving in the breeze A container garden can appeal to more than one sense. 🌸 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝐀𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞 Here's where things get interesting. "Dianthus" isn't just one plant. It's a 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬, and you may recognize some of them by other names. You may have heard of: 🌸 𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬 🌸 𝐒𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐦 🌸 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 They're all members of the Dianthus genus. So if you've ever grown Sweet William or carnations... You've already met part of the family! 🤔 𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭...𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 "𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬"? You might assume it's because so many dianthus flowers are pink. Makes sense, right? But there's another explanation associated with the name. Look closely at the edges of some dianthus petals. They're not perfectly smooth. They look... ✂️ 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃! Almost as though someone trimmed them with pinking shears. That distinctive fringed or serrated petal edge is one of the characteristics that makes many dianthus flowers so recognizable. Once you notice it... You'll start spotting it everywhere. 🍂 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠

We've added some beautiful flowers to our Second Spring containers: 🌸 Pansies & violas 🐲 Snapdragons 🌸 Dianthus 🌼 Calendula Today we're adding something that can provide some of the most dramatic fall color of all. Except... 𝐈𝐓 𝐈𝐒𝐍'𝐓 𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐀 𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑. 😲 Those huge purple, pink, white, and green rosettes you see filling garden centers every fall? Meet: 🥬 𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐊𝐀𝐋𝐄 & 𝐂𝐀𝐁𝐁𝐀𝐆𝐄! They're leafy vegetables dressed up for a night on the town. 😂 And the colder the weather becomes...𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤. 🌸 𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭...𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐚 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫? Nope! Look closely at ornamental kale or cabbage. What appears to be one enormous flower is actually a collection of 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐒. The leaves form a beautiful rosette, with colors that may include: 💜 Purple 🩷 Pink 🤍 White 💚 Green ❤️ Burgundy And combinations of several colors. That's why these plants are so valuable in fall containers. They give us the appearance of a giant flower...𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐦. ❄️ 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬... Unlike many summer plants, ornamental kale and cabbage don't panic when temperatures start dropping. They actually LIKE cool weather. And here's the really fun part: 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞. As fall progresses and nights become chilly, those centers may develop richer shades of pink, purple, red, and white. So while we're watching some summer flowers fade... Our ornamental kale may actually be getting prettier. It's almost as though the plant says: "𝐎𝐡, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥? 𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫." 😂 🥬 𝐎𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐯𝐬. 𝐎𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐚𝐠𝐞 They're closely related, and you'll often see the names used together. But there's an easy general difference to look for. 🥬 𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐂𝐀𝐁𝐁𝐀𝐆𝐄 Usually has broader, smoother or more gently wavy leaves and forms a tighter head-like rosette. 🌿 𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐊𝐀𝐋𝐄 Usually has more ruffled, frilly, or deeply textured leaves. Think: 𝐂𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐚𝐠𝐞 = 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐞 = 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐫.

Plants are loving summer in the lanai!