How does your garden grow?

I finally got over to Campbell's Nursery and Garden Center here in Lincoln to pick up flowers and plants to arrange in my one little pot that I've had for the last two years.  I don't have much of a green thumb naturally but I seem to be able to handle a few flowers in a pot as long as I remember to water them.  Two years ago at my old apartment I took a shortcut and bought a pot that had been put together at the nursery.  I opted for a partial shade variety which turned out to be the wrong choice.  Where the pot was placed on my front stoop encountered too much sun and those plants did not fair well that summer.  The next year I was smarter and bought drought tolerant, full sun plants and flowers to fill the container.  Unfortunately with our extreme drought conditions and my aforementioned, underdeveloped green thumb, those plants quickly succumbed to the scorching heat.

Now that I've moved to a new place, my planter is out on my small, covered balcony which is mostly full shade throughout the day but with some peeks of sunlight.  So this year I wanted to attempt to replicate that original partial shade variety pot that I had originally purchased.  Luckily I had taken photographs and kept tags so I knew for the most part what I needed to buy.  Here's what I found at Campbell's to build my lovely container garden.

Begonias are great shade flowers and I think they are just plain cute so I chose three different varieties for my planter this year.  The top two will be a little taller and fuller whereas the white variety are a bit smaller. 

This Lobelia will spread out and hang over the top of the planter and fill in the gaps nicely.  I had hoped to purchase the bright blue variety but sadly they were sold out already.  The purple will be a nice change though.  

Finally, the centerpiece of this project, the Alocasia that I was so happy to have found!  This plant grew so nicely that first year and the wide, vibrant leaves gave the planter a nice tropical feel.  

The final product! I'm quite happy with it and hope that it will flourish on my little balcony.  

So there you have it!  My little flora and fauna oasis in one little flower pot!  As a side note, all of these photos were edited with PicMonkey - a FREE photo editing site with lots of options as well as the little banners, text and other scrapbook-like additions.  

Happies of the Day:

Begonias...just the word makes me happy. 

A weekend full of relaxing.

Dirty gardening gloves.