New Porch Plants

I changed up my front-porch plants recently. I pulled out the old worn-out summer caladiums and torenia and filled the urns and pots with fresh pink begonias from Home Depot. I wasn’t that enthused at first, but in the last few days the begonias have really won me over. The pink flowers go so nicely with the orange pumpkins on the steps, and with the yellow fall leaves on the mulberry and witch hazel in the side yard.

I love sweeping the front porch on a Saturday morning, then standing back to admire it, watching the little green anoles basking in the sun on the railing. In spring a wren always builds her nest on top of a column or in one of flowerpots, and right now there are dirt dauber nests on the ceiling, and glittering spider webs in every corner (amazing feats of engineering). It’s neat that the porch is part of our house but also a part of nature. Butterflies and moths pass through, and cocoons and chrysalises cling wherever they can–under the railing, maybe, or under a windowsill.