This is the first year I’ve ever planted flowers in my planter or in pots on my deck. Some of them actually lived.

The lovely balloon flower (so named for the balloon-like buds; see lower left).

The indefatigable torenia, which keeps on forgiving me for not watering it frequently enough. All the other potted plants I had on my deck eventually gave up the ghost or were hopelessly battered by thunderstorms.

The volunteer calibrachoa, which surreptitiously migrated to my planter from the hanging basket I briefly had on my front porch two or three months ago.

Audrey the giant hosta. Small animals disappear in her clutches and are never seen again. I planted the other flowers here, but I inherited Audrey with the house.