My sister-in-law said “I don’t want things anymore, I just want things to store things in.” I’m all over that and I would add, I just want beautiful things to store things in. Weck Canning makes the most beautiful jars. Big ones, small ones, squat and tall ones (ok, forgive me for sounding a bit like Dr. Seuss). You can use them to can anything – from jams and jellies to pickles and relish. I can lots of big jars of applesauce and if I hadn’t eaten all my container garden produce, I’d can that too. Weck also sells a fabulous, stainless steel, electric canner that I am lusting after - ok, I lied a little about not wanting things anymore. It’s pretty pricy but looks like it would make the whole canning process so much more elegant.

I have been to container garden heaven and it is Ireland. How much do I love a country where the pubs have spectacular container gardens and towns hang bright and colorful containers everywhere you look?

Baskets, bursting with petunias, begonias and lobelia seem like part of the landscape – they hang from light poles and bridges and even gray factory walls. Flowering window boxes and huge multi-layered iron containers decorate every village. Nasturtiums are everywhere, cheerful and gorgeous, sometimes escaping into the cracks in the sidewalks.

I do have to say that I came home with a wicked case of zone envy. I was in southern Ireland where fuchsias grow like hedges and a flowering maples can become towering giants. Ahhhhhh….to garden in zone 9.

My dog Henry is berserk about hoses. When he was a puppy he chewed off the end of every hose I owned. So instead of those lovely nozzles with the adjustable sprays, I was left to use my finger to cover the ragged end of a massacred piece of rubber.

I also created a monster when he was young by letting him play with the water shooting from the hose. Now I can’t water anything without him wanting to play in the spray. He weighs in at almost 100 pounds, and though he is incredibly gentle, when he is in a hose frenzy – biting the spray - his big old teeth can sometimes make contact with my hands. Not a lot of fun.

Apparently I’m not the only person who has a hose crazy dog. The folks at Armadillo Hose have invented garden hoses that are chew-proof. Also, all their hoses are drink-safe, because unfortunately many hoses present a health hazard.

I am often overwhelmed when deciding which plants to put in a container garden. There are always gorgeous, thrilling and seductive plants to choose from. However, after killing more gorgeous, thrilling and seductive plants than I would care to admit, I thought it might be useful to make a list of five of my favorite plants that are hard to kill.

I tried to choose plants that are common enough to find in your supermarket, but when put in the right container, alone or with the right companions, can be truly spectacular.

I had to start somewhere, so for my first “hard to kill list,” I chose five flowering annual plants that like full sun.