my washtub runneth over

I've been lucky with this container. I wish I could say that it was a well planned arrangement of tropical and low maintenance pass-along plants, but the truth is that it is mostly just a happy accident.

The old galvanized washtub was in our home's basement when we moved in five years ago. I lugged the tub outside and punched holes in the bottom for drainage. The trailing purple heart and the bronze canna lilies overwintered in this same spot last year. I thought I had moved them both in the spring. I must have left a few pieces of roots/tubers behind.

Pink geraniums are not usually my favorite choice, but a quart of them were marked down to twenty-five cents on the quick sale table in May, mostly because they looked dead. And lastly, the amaryllis (which are the strappy green things that haven't bloomed) are gifts from a neighbor. These are spending a summer enjoying the sun and moisture afforded here. The clumps will surely grow too large for the washtub so I will put them into my perennial border this fall. Since it hasn't flowered, I am not 100% sure that my amaryllis is not really a pineapple lily or crinium. I should check with my neighbor (who couldn't remember the bloom type when he forked these over last March). That's pretty standard fare in the world of plant swappers.

The morning glory vine that is reaching up the rain barrel is kind of a nuisance in other parts of my yard and garden. Every dropped seed from the summer before seems to prosper. But I will let this one slide. At least for this year.