Italian style meals, sustainable gardening tips, and lots of segues in between

Do you like to cook with fresh herbs whenever possible? ✔︎

Do you need plants to fill your front entryway flower pots? ✔︎

Do you hate it when you buy fresh herbs, put them on the windowsill and slowly watch them wilt and die before you ever get to use them? ✔︎

Do you think purple flowers and green foliage are a gorgeous color combo? ✔︎

Me, too. Why not fill your front porch pots with cool weather herbs and pansies this spring? They’ll be easy to water because of their proximity to your house, and they’ll make you happy every time you walk in or out the front door.

Ingredients for each flower pot:

1 arugula plant (for height)
1 rosemary plant
1 sage plant
1 oregano plant
1 parsley plant
1 cilantro or basil plant (spring: cilantro, summer: basil)
3 pansy or marigold plants (spring: pansy, summer: marigold)

Instructions:
Fill each flower pot with dirt. I put a 6-inch layer of foam packaging peanuts in the bottom of each pot. Arrange plants by putting the tallest in the center and the thin, floppy plants along the rim. This photo was taken March 1st

The temps dipped into the 20s one night, and I covered them. They survived just fine.

One year, it snowed on March 11th!

The pots flourished — April 12th.

I love the soft colors in this version.

And in this one, too.

When the plants start to get leggy, I move them to the herb garden. Typically, I move the pots away from the front of the house for the summer and bring them back out in November when I fill them with greenery.

Introducing the Summer Porch Pot as seen in Edible Nashville!