When I go out and buy plants for containers, I have an idea of what I want to get, but no set list. I generally just pick out what I like, bring it all home and hope that I have a good combination of tall plants, medium sized plants and trailers to fill up the my pots and hanging baskets.

This year, I picked up a couple of pots of the petunia pictured here, and the more I see it growing, the more I like it! The variety is “Merlin Blue Morn” and upon closer inspection of the label, I find that it is an All American Selections Winner. From 2003! Where have I been, and why didn’t I find this plant sooner?

I planted it alone in a moss lined wire wheelbarrow shaped planter on my front porch so I see it every morning when I go out to get the paper. It’s next to a pot that I planted with all white flowers, with a touch of a silver leaved trailing plant, so it has no nearby competition as far as color goes. This makes it stand out even more.

If had worked out a planting scheme for all of my containers ahead of time and gone out shopping with a list of specific plants to buy, I might have missed out on this petunia. I do have an idea of some of my “regular” plants that I buy every year. Begonias for the hanging baskets on the front porch, impatiens for some long boxes under the window on the porch, a few geraniums, some ivy, etc. But otherwise, if I see a plant that I like, I get it and then figure out where to put it.

I did end up a little short of plants this year as far as containers go, and so, “gasp”, I still have a few empty containers that I’d like to plant up before it gets too late in the season. I think I ended up short because there was so much rain while I was on vacation that I didn’t get my first batch of plants into the containers as quick as I normally would have, so I didn’t have that extra time to make a second pass through all the nurseries and garden centers.

I am sure the garden center people will be happy to see me coming out to buy more plants this weekend. I just hope they have some fresh stock on hand for me to pick from. If not, I hope they are charging half price!