Gardening ~ the good, the bad & the ugly (real ugly)

You may remember these from here.

Yesterday they looked like this.

And today they look like this. Sorry for the slightly blurry photo, but mommy was nearby and I didn't want to make her too nervous.

In between rain drops I've been busy planting. A few pots for the patio containing lantana, purple fountain grass and sweet potato vine. Lantana is such a great flower for attracting butterflies and that is definitely good.

A pot of coral colored geraniums in a tall plant stand to sit right next to my favorite chair on the front porch. I will enjoy it's beauty while I'm enjoying my morning coffee or reading a favorite book or magazine. An added bonus is that I can see this beautiful flower from my kitchen and dining room. No doubt about it that is really good.

A good looking iris.

Pretty purple clematis

Oh so very good.

I'm hoping that everybody who comes up my front steps will feel good when they pass by the six pots of impatiens I planted.

Of course I feel good when I reach into my mailbox which is currently surrounded by these pretty clematis.

The beauty and joy we can receive from our gardening efforts are definitely a good thing (Hi Martha). But there are a few things in the garden that aren't so good. In fact they're just plain bad. Take, for instance, those pots of impatiens I planted on my front steps. Only one day after planting them I was watching a squirrel sitting on my window sill fluffing his bushy tail. I thought he was so cute ~ until I later found out that he jumped off the window sill and proceeded to dig up some of the impatiens I had just planted. This would definitely fall into the bad
category.

Another bad thing has happened and it involves the trellis you see pictured above.

It also involves this plate. See those morning glories on the plate?

Well. . . you may remember the last part of this post.

Oh how I envisioned those morning glories winding their way up that trellis right next to this vintage plate.

I planted seeds plenty early, they sprouted, I planted them in the ground and then watched them disappear. I have no idea what happened. I wasn't going to let that get me down so I soaked some more seeds overnight and planted them directly in the ground. I watched them like a hawk and they never came up. Need I say it?? This is definitely bad. Bad & sad & it makes me mad. There ~ now I feel better :-)


***** WARNING - UGLY PART AHEAD *****

If you are squeamish especially when it pertains to reptilian things in the garden, close your eyes now or turn your head and scroll past the next picture real fast.

If you were brave enough to peek, it's not quite as bad as it looks. This is only the skin. Makes me a little nervous to think where the rest of him went. This is the UGLY side of gardening. Since I began gardening in the south I have seen some huge snakes. One year I had one a few feet away from me and it had to be at least five feet long. I have a real phobia when it comes to them and almost gave up gardening that year. I think I would have for sure if I didn't enjoy it so much.

I guess gardening is a lot like life.

We take the good with the bad and hope to avoid the ugly all together.

But the beauty and contentment we receive from this hobby are so rewarding that we continue on. In my case a little more cautiously.