This is a post about flowers.

But first, a quick tangent about homes.

If you want to skip straight to the flowers, click here. Otherwise just stick with me. I promise it’ll all make sense.

A few days ago a friend of mine mentioned on Instagram that she’s moving. Her move is similar to the one we did about a year ago — they’re moving to a larger home that better suits her family’s needs. The move itself is good, and they’re only moving to a different part of town, but it’s really sad, too.

She asked me about leaving our neighborhood, and I had to be honest and tell her that I don’t think you ever stop missing your first home. We’ve been in our new house for almost a year and as much as I really, really, really love our new house, I still miss our old one.

Maybe it’s just me — because I’m sentimental by nature and because I haven’t moved much. Combine those and you get a person who sheds a tear about the familiar way the steps creak. I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving going back to my college town, or feeling at home in my childhood home. Of course I will always look back on our first home with affection. It’s the house I brought my three babies home to, the floors I paced in labor and then with wakeful infants. It’s where we celebrated five years of anniversaries, birthdays and Christmases. It’s where we watched Breaking Bad, you guys. We lived there for the entire lifespan of the band “One Direction” — you don’t just get over something like that, ya know?

Anyway, we’ve been here for almost a year and it’s feeling more like home, and we’re slowly making changes to the house that make it ours. (Not including syrup handprints on the walls.)

One of the changes I love making is planning our garden. (See! Now on to flowers!) The weather is getting warmer and the plants in my yard are starting to wake up. Our yard is beautiful but it’s not mine, ya know? And this year I’m planning to add my own touches.

One of the first things I decided to plant were dahlias beside my front door, only because that’s what I did at my old house.

I took all three kids to Lowe’s, and there were, with the right camera angle, what looked fields of anemones and verbena and all kinds of beautiful blooms.

The kids ran around like hooligans and Thomas found a plastic flamingo somewhere while I picked out a bunch of beautiful Monrovia dahlias.

Why do all kids do this when you ask them to smile? To be clear, this is not how David smiles. 

This is my front stoop before. Not bad at all. But it needs some personality.

The kids were super happy to help. They have been so interested in gardening this year, and it’s been really fun for me to share this with them.

Notice the red stripes and age shirts? My kids are suddenly into matching and since they don’t have many matching clothes they have to be creative.

David did a great job. He dug holes and listened to instructions as I told him how to carefully loosen the rootball and place the flower in the hole.

Mary Virginia’s help was a little more shaky, but she does take a LOT of credit.

The final product! Happy, welcoming dahlias, looks like home.

I can’t wait to see the dahlia’s grow and bloom. Partially because they’re one of my favorite flowers, but also because for me digging and growing makes this place feel more like home than choosing paint colors and hanging curtains.

Happy planting.

 

 

Planning your own spring garden? Check out your local garden center or the Monrovia online store.

<<  Sign up for the Monrovia newsletter for helpful tips and info about gardening >>

Watch my video for the astounding before and after. If you watch REALLY closely you can see Mary Virginia actually THROW her plant at the ground. Three-year olds.