Pottering around...

Once upon a time I would always plant flowering annuals for each season. Then came the drought in the early part of the 2000s. Water became too precious ( and more expensive) to use in the quantities needed for annuals...and hosing was banned, so watering was by bucket or watering can. And that was hard work after a full day at work! Lol Even though we installed some rainwater tanks, I still didn't plant my usual annuals. 

Then in November 2010 we hosted a 30th birthday party for the man who eventually became our son in law. That meant a bit of a spruce up of both the house and the garden. So in Spring that year, I potted up flowering annuals in the September school holidays so they were ready to put around the garden by early November. It was still drought so it was all hand watering. But the pots of petunias looked good on the night. The drought broke here with the floods of January 2011 and gradually we could use mains water for gardening again. But my potted colour efforts were pretty hit and miss until this year. Having our Canadian friends visit on Easter Sunday spurred me on...after all potted colour distracts attention from a lot of things!! Lol.

Petunias...new varieties jostle with old favourites! 

 I love lots of 'old fashioned' plants and my geranium plants decided to flower too! 

I love bromeliads too and I brought up some extra ones from the shaded area in the garden and put them on the veranda...

You know how they say you learn something new every day? Well on Easter Day morning I discovered that possums like petunia flowers. And the resident possums continue to de bud /de flower/raid the flowers in several of the pots. 

The ones near the front steps are untouched...this is possibly because the sensor light would come on when the possums approach...

On the bright side, the constant 'trimming' should mean the plants get more 'bushy'? Lol. At least the possums are not eating the plants down to ground level like they do with my parsley.