The Bliss of an Indoor Summer

Silly Roses...
If only they knew what it was like on the other side of this sunny window. 

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I'm 4 days away from the big, exciting, oh, my God, I cannot believe I actually agreed to do this... trip.

Tomorrow is the ceremonial delivery of the blessed orchids.
Okay, fine, perhaps I'm a little melodramatic when it comes to my orchids. If you think [for even one minute] that I'm trusting house and dog sitter, John, to care for my precious orchids, think again. Sandy is in charge of the pretties while I'm gone.

Although I don't why I'm so worried about the orchids. When it comes to houseplants and flowering annuals I'm not the least bit kind. A gardener version of Cruella Deville.

Lots of my houseplants are flowering annuals wintering indoors. Poor things. They work their little patooties off all summer long. By season's end, I imagine they're exhausted. Most likely anticipating that first hard frost and a much-needed rest.

But that lazy life is not to be. In autumn, I drag 'em indoors, where it's nice and warm and they keep on flowering. (No doubt talking amongst themselves about this whole global warming thing and what happened to winter.)

Tips:
Flowering Annuals have one mission in life ~ to grace us with plentiful, pretty blossoms. Why stop the show when the weather turns cold? They're quite prolific indoors, as well. Just stick 'em in a sunny window and let them do their stuff.

• Start with a very serious bath before you bring them in from the outdoors. It's a good idea to drown the buggies that are hoping to hitch a ride.
• Water with a highly diluted 5-30-5 fertilizer (1 tsp. per quart water) to improve their flower power. 
• Most are quite content in a warm, south-facing, sunny window.