With a name like Jardin D Fleur, you might imagine that I’d have an affinity for flowers. You’d be correct. I love flowers. My favorites include hydrangeas, wisteria, begonias, lilac, geraniums, roses, of course, lilies, orchids, daisies, poppies, peonies, gladiolus, dahlias, foxglove, day lilies, and the list goes on. But, with my sort of cray cray lifestyle, gardening is not really an option. I do enjoy it, or have, in the past, but the long-term success of my garden is unlikely, at least at this juncture. I travel a lot and socialize a lot and am very active in my free time and so I usually end up with dead flowers and thriving weeds.

Today, though, I planted a few carefully selected bulbs into pots and placed them on the patio. Begonias. I am in anticipation of bountiful blooms all summer long that will require minimal care. I’m an “empty-nester” and enjoy my freedom, I don’t want to spend every free moment in the garden pulling weeds and spreading mulch. I want to plant it, let it get watered and enjoy it. I’ll fawn over it a little, here and there, as needed, or when I just feel like it, but I’m not looking for a prison sentence, even in a flower garden! But, with my few little pots of flowers planted, I can envision sitting on the patio with a great micro-brew or a terrific bottle of wine and reading, or writing, or visiting and enjoying my colorful pots of flowers.

Begonias in a box.

Pretty pots.

Rocks for the bottom of the pot for good drainage.

Use broken clay pots in the bottom of your pot, with the rocks, to promote good drainage.

Ready for dirt.

Dirt.

Read the ingredients on every package, even dirt.

Getting my hands dirty!

Everything is planted!

Potted bulbs nestled beneath the hydrangeas.

With my little chore out of the way, and “chore” really is the wrong word, as I enjoyed getting my hands all grimy, I loved playing in the dirt, but, with the task complete, now I sit back to a spicy bowl of homemade chicken yakisoba, a lager and begin my article. The begonias, the beer, the bowl of noodles, all making my life a little more beautiful today!

Now to eat, drink and be merry!

Life is what you make it, make it beautiful! Today and everyday! Daily, we need to “plant” something that will grow, that we can nurture into something beautiful. I mean that metaphorically. Every day is a new beginning, just like my begonia bulbs in the pots on the patio, a beginning of something beautiful.