Just updated the hardscape in our front yard.

I started indoor gardening when I was 18. I grew four pothos plants up to six feet long and hung them over my dorm window as curtains. Fifty years later, I now have over a 100 houseplants and two outdoor gardens. Few people relate to my love of outdoor container gardening and houseplants. With this group, I know I have found my tribe.

You knew we couldn't have a Second Spring flower series without talking about this one. Walk into almost any garden center in fall and there they are... Rows and rows of big round plants covered with flowers. 💛 Yellow 🧡 Orange ❤️ Red 💜 Purple 🤍 White 🩷 Pink Bronze, burgundy, gold... 🌼 𝗠𝗨𝗠𝗦! Nothing says: "𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫. 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫." quite like a mum sitting beside the front door. 😂🎃 But today I'm going to tell you something that may go against every instinct you have at the garden center. When you're standing in front of 50 mums trying to choose one.., 𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐁𝐔𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐄. Walk into almost any garden center in fall and there they are... At least... Not if you want flowers that last as long as possible. We'll come back to that! 🌼 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭...𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐈𝐒 𝐚 𝐌𝐮𝐦? "Mum" is simply our shortened name for: 𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐘𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌𝐔𝐌. And chrysanthemums come in an enormous variety of flower forms, sizes, and colors. The big rounded plants that suddenly appear everywhere in late summer and fall are often sold as 𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐬. And there's a very good reason they're associated with autumn. Mums naturally respond to the shortening days of late summer and fall by developing flower buds. So while we're pulling out tired summer annuals... Mums are preparing for their big performance. Talk about good timing. 🌼🍂 🛒 𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲...𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐈 𝐁𝐮𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐎𝐧𝐞 Imagine you're standing at the garden center. Mum #1 looks AMAZING. 🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼 Every flower is wide open. It's a giant ball of color. Beside it is Mum #2. It's healthy and green... But many of its flowers are still: 🟢 Buds. A few have started opening, but it's nowhere near as impressive. Which one does your gardening brain want? 𝐌𝐔𝐌 #𝟏! Of course it does. We're gardeners. We're weak around flowers. 😂 But if your goal is to enjoy blooms for as long as possible... 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐀 𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐑 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐀𝐓 𝐌𝐔𝐌 #𝟐. A plant covered with unopened buds still has much of its flower show ahead of it.

I start my morning with coffee and sitting with my lovely plants they are beautiful and comforting.

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.