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A French-Inspired Garden and Home by Judith Stringham

Ever Changing Botanicals

Thursday, May 7, 2015


The pine chest that sits between the kitchen and living room 
is an ever-changing landscape for botanicals. 


In the spring those changes are so often that if you blink, you miss one. 

Why so often? 
Local nurseries, hardware stores, and grocery stores 
offer thousands of plants during March and April. 
About midway through May, there is an abrupt halt to 
the plant offerings. 
If you don't buy plants during these 2 1/2 months, 
you have to wait until the fall for another chance. 

So, monthly, or weekly, or daily monetary contributions 
are made at the local nurseries. 
Laughing the long tall Texan often told me he saw 
I had made my regular contribution as I brought in the latest plants.  



I love flowers in the house, but use living plants 
much more than cut-flower bouquets. 

Living plants can be enjoyed three-fold. 

1. Inside in a beautiful pot or basket until transplanted, followed by 
2. Outside on the deck or in a flower garden, followed by 
3. Cut flowers from the plant to bring back inside. 

VoilĂ  
More enjoyment for a longer time for less money than the price of bouquet. 
My kind of way to save money. 


A Spanish lavender plant that has already been planted outside 
replaced the elegant foxglove that was here just the week before. 
The foxglove now lives on the south deck, soaking up the sunshine and rain.  



Spanish lavender fares well in our north Texas climate. 
It blooms for a longer time than some other lavenders 
and survives our winters to return the next year. 



The large lavender plant in the ceramic pot and the small picture 
hide an unsightly electrical outlet located just above the top of the chest. 
The outlet location is convenient to reach for plugging in the lamps, but is not pretty.



 More than thirty years ago I saw a photo in a magazine of a similar 
chest of drawers with a large picture hanging above it. 
That photo was one of the inspirations for how we designed our house. 
For new readers who may not know, I drew our house plans on graph paper, 
and the long tall Texan did much of the actual building of our house.  

I still love this house, its layout, and the pine chest that holds 
an ever-changing landscape of botanicals. 

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