Whilst my mum was here last week we set about rectifying the problem of our forlorn looking front veranda. I had a couple of big terracotta pots screaming for me to plant something pretty in them, as well as a cute wheelbarrow my dad had given me for Christmas many years ago. I used to grow strawberries in it but as it’s not really berry planting season we opted for some pretty purple blooms, with the idea that they will tumble over the sides eventually.
One of my terracotta pots was destined to have either a lemon or a lime tree planted in it. I decided on a dwarf kaffir lime tree as I use the leaves often in my cooking (especially my Thai beef salad, perhaps a post for another day). Now my little lime can come anywhere with us, which has always been the problem when we start planting trees in gardens which are ultimately not ours.
Walking into Mahalia Coffee in Robe last week I fell in love with these gorgeous soft purple chrysanthemums – how could you not?! Suddenly what would go in my other terracotta pot was decided. A few bamboo stakes to hold the heavy blooms up and a scattering of one of my favourites, white stocks, around them and the lime tree and my veranda was all of a sudden looking more like ‘home’ already.
Also on the ‘must-buy-when-I-go-to-town’ list was some fresh herbs. After umming and aahing over which ones I was going to get and what pots I wanted to put them in I found a general mixed herb pot. Problem solved. Plonked it on our outdoor table on the front veranda and it’s loving it. It has salad rocket leaves too so I can snip and eat, snip and eat…
It’s amazing what little things like this can do to make a house seem more like a home. Now driving up the driveway it seems like we’ve put our fingerprint on this old farmhouse, I can see the herbs on our outdoor table from my desk and have been out on the front veranda watering my pots and waving to the postman already. Plus, I wholeheartedly believe that gardening is so very good for the soul.
The heavens have finally opened here – gorgeous rain is falling on the farmhouse tin roof as I type. What a blessing. It hasn’t rained here since November, it is beyond needed. And so I feel Winter creeping in ever so slowly, but for now I’ll just admire my Spring-like chrysanthemums…
Alanah says
I have just started planting around our house too! Enjoy!
Kathy says
I love your pots and I agree pottering in the garden is good for your soul and healthy as well both physically and mentally. I love how you make a house a home and just go for it with the veggie garden because after all you are going to be eating veggies even if you move on you’ll have plenty of time to grow and eat them. Regards Kathy A, Brisbane, Australia. http://www.oursimpleandmeaningfullife.blogspot.com
Sharon says
they look lovely on the verandah, nothing like a few pots and greenness to make it feel more homely for sure!
Emma says
I think it’s also the fact that ‘I did that’ rather than just inherited touches from somebody else which makes it feel more homely. Definitely.
Anne says
We planted strawberries in the pots that were out the front when we got here and herbs in the pots on the lattice fence out the back. We have mostly transformed one of the garden beds into a vege garden although it is only just getting cool enough for anything to have a chance. Plants do make it home I think and it is nice to look after them. I bet you will love the fresh herbs … I do.
Emma says
These pots were also ‘inherited’ from a house we once lived in. I have regretted not doing the veggie garden thing is homes before simply because it ‘wasn’t ours’ but I think I need to stop thinking like that and simply bite the bullet and get stuck in to it! Nothing to lose and everything to gain.