while in Decatur...

... over the weekend, we went to the big box store and found things in the garden shop to put in some terracotta pots that sit on the front steps. Different sizes of containers, one on each step, leading up to the front door. The  pots held some weary, leggy pansies that had been planted last fall, so it was time for a change.

We bought fresh pansies, in a riot of color, along with some snapdragons that will grow taller in the center of each pot, and provide a surprise as we do not know what color the snaps will be when they bloom. And some dianthus that are a rosy red and white. The dianthus are perennials, and will hopefully continue bloom indefinitely as long as they get a little attention: watering and occasional dead-heading, pinching the spent flowers off to make them want to bloom again.

Dumped the dirt out, and filled with fresh potting soil, adding some time release fertilizer before inserting the plants. I had a little pot with several bloomed out roses, to put in the center of each of the pots, adding some height to the low growing dianthus and pansies.  The snapdragons will add some height as well, once they get established and start to grow and bloom.

As it turned out, there were a few pansies left over, that I brought home with me, and put in a pot in my yard. Outside the window by the table where I type, so will seem them blooming through the months ahead, bright and colorful through the cooler months. Provided the chipmunks do not have a party in the pot and uproot them all! The last photo is the pot in my yard, that also has a red verbena that is still blooming, along with the white pansies.