The Flower Box

 All of my flower beds are filled with perennials, which saves me the time and effort of planting each year.  However, behind my bedroom, I have a large flower box.  Each year I fill it with annuals, and I also plant annuals in a number of flower pots.

I have completed my work on that.

At either end of the flower box I have planted cleome, which I used to called spider plants when I was a kid.  Cleome are native to South America.  The variety I planted has purple flowers and will grow as tall as four feet high.

Next to the cleomes are two white dipladenias or mandevillas.   In the past I have planted the variety that is a climbing vine, but these form compact bushes that grow a little more than a foot in height.

Moving toward the center on either side I have miniature dahlias, the national flower of Mexico.

Finally, in the center I have several colors of petunias.  I always plant the variety called "supertunias".  Unlike regular petunias that tend to get scraggly and require constant dead heading, the "supertunias" are thick and will trail over the sides of the planter.  It is not necessary to remove the spent flowers.

In the pots in front of the box, at either end I have my jasmine bushes.  For a number of years I have successfully taken them inside for winter and brought them out for the summer.  When they bloom, their fragrance is wonderful.

Next to the jasmines I have two canna lilies.  They can grow up to six feet in height.

Moving toward the center I have two yellow argyranthemums.  They are native to the Canary Islands.  They can grow up to three feet tall and bloom profusely.

Next are two pots with ageratums and marigolds, and finally in the center is a pot with miniature snapdragons.

Within a month there will be a colorful display of an abundance of flowers.