Hello everyone :)
I will be doing a program for Seniors on planting up pots and thought I should come here and ask what would be a lovely combination of plants to use? The pot will be given as a door prize afterwards. Please if you could include a picture along with the names of the plants to be seen that would be ever so appreciated. Please note I live in the Canadian prairies so the newest releases prolly won't be found here.
I'd love to see some with colourful petunias mixed with whatever as well as some that are a little more exotic.
I truly kick myself that I didn't take some pics of some of the gorgeous colourful plantings I've seen around town in the past couple of years (there were some that truly took ones breath away). One year in particular I remember our local spa had pots with petunias etc in it that was breathtaking...I think it had purple and pink with I can't remember what all else but I'd sure like to make something equally nice and I certainly will gladly eyeball non petunia plantings as well. .
Over the years I've made some lovely ones for myself but others haven't always turned out the way my mind's eye pictured they would so I come begging for ideas from the experts here.
Plants that POP
Collecting a few ideas from previous threads:
Petunia and silver leaf cinneraria (?)
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=8592167
driftwood planting
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=8442548
Primura malacoides and viola
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=3324633
Flowering Kale
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=3324638
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=3353180
Dianthus 'Double Elegance' and lobelia
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=7862995 how one of the containers is planted http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=7862998
Lobelia planting
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=7869382
Nasturtium and Lobelia
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=7869397
One large planter with a combo of the plants shown here?
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=7819415
Hakonechloa macra and Soleirolia soleirolii
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=963058
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=847494
I must admit TomTom's colour palatte is a fave of mine. ;D
I remember the day tabasco showed me her gorgeous wine colored calla (from Lowes), two small hosta, purpley iresine, and angelonia http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=1549894
The shot here are orange zinnias with lime SPV.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=1095366
(Mexican Sunflower and Saphire Showers Duranta)
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=6908763
This message was edited May 8, 2012 8:48 PM
Wow......those are just beautiful Lilypon.
I use the thriller, filler and spiller technique to design planters. Tall spikey plants, also cane begonias make good thrillers, fillers can be coleus, sedums, and a Euphorbia that has tiny white flowers, I think the variety is Diamond Dust, also any small flowered annual such as small zinnias. Spillers are the trailers like Sweet potato, jew of various kinds, some of the herbs that trail, Petunias and trailing coleus. Dont forget the impact of colorful foliage as well as blossoms. Ive used flax, Hawaiian Ti plant, dianella, plectranthus Persian Sheild as thrillers. There are several colors of sweet potato to choose from now. Ive also used lobularia maritima as a filler or spiller. There are some spectacular grasses available now which could be used. Creeping Jenny is a beautiful trailer for yellow color.
Pics, steadycam, pics!!!!! What you described sounds great! :-))
That they indeed are Morganic...those ladies do have a very discerning eye! :o) All have something I'd love to capture but aren't quite combined the way I was picturing.
Steadycam3 your descriptive "thriller, filler and spiller technique" is exactly what I'm after. :o) I too hope you have some pics you can share but if not I'll get busy and collect pics of the plants you so generously listed.
This message was edited May 9, 2012 3:52 PM
Ah Morganic I see you have a couple of pics up that fit the bill http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=9091102&extraimg=0 :D
The thriller may be too expensive for my program but there are always my pots :o)
Lilypon, as a beginner to container gardening, I find the Proven Winners website http://www.provenwinners.com/ helpful in their "recipes" (including pictures) using the thriller, filler & spiller technique.
While I may not use the plants specified, gives me ideas on unusual color combos. Hope it helps you, too!
Lilypon - Home Depot had a truckload of them for sale one day so I pick one up. I think $13. Or close, I don't remember exactly, but I know not over $15., because I was being somewhat careful as we had a lot of flowers to buy. I wanted something pink and green and the Hawaiian Ti was perfect for that.
I did another one just green and white with a split leaf philly that I got for $9.99 at Lowes.
Thank you ever ever ever so much ladies for your pics and links!!! I see a number of ideas that I'd feel very comfortable incorporating into a pot! :D
Enjoy the cooler weather you are about to receive .....I cannot believe how hot it was down there just one week ago. :0
I even captured it for a weather site I belong to.......I HATE high heat (it does make it up here sooner or later) so was praying we'd get colder weather to cool you folks off!
This message was edited May 11, 2012 11:18 PM
We are just fine here........75 to 80 degrees today......perfect for a wedding in our backyard!
That would be a gorgeous day indeed and so happy for you that given there is a wedding in your back yard that the rains stayed away. I was married in a backyard wedding too and the temps on that day were about the same as what you are now getting but that was due to a well shaded yard 1/2 down a hill. At the top of the valley and out on the plains it was near 100 so I was very grateful for the trees (as were the fellows wearing suits)!
Today we were at +19C/66F early this am and it is also deliciously gorgeous here...the sun is shining, apple trees, etc are now blooming and the breeze is coming from the mountains carrying with it a hint of crispness/pinetree freshness. I am sure we will be in the mid to high seventies before this day ends.
The more extreme coolness I knew wouldn't have hit your location like it did mine but thought it would give a bit of a breeze like the breeze that is hitting my location today. A wee hint of air conditioning sorta. A day where one can work outside all day, and not overheat. All due of course to the jet stream leaving the Canadian border and heading back down to its normal spring position in the States and bringing with it more normal temps for this time of year.
So far I've tracked down one plant that is in your lovely pot.....will be off shortly to enjoy melted chocolate and fruit and a local greenhouse where I'll hopefully find a few more. Will have to visit Wal Mart locally to hopefully find one or more of the more tropical ones or head off to Regina where there are more stores similar to the ones listed in the posts above.
This message was edited May 13, 2012 12:32 PM
double post :P
This message was edited May 13, 2012 12:31 PM
Thankfully we didn't get cold enough to freeze these:
A visual mother's day gift from the Northern plains (different species of hardy trees are about all that is blooming outside around here so far.... with the exception of some hardier bulbs).
Lovely flowers........what are they?
An apple tree not sure which variety. There is also a flowering Thunderchild crabapple (dark winey pink fleurs) that always puts on an incredible show currently blooming nearby. Every spring my heart truly sings seeing their display!!!
I'll settle down soon but after watching all of the U.S. and every province in Canada (other than the prairies) have their trees bloom it's truly a long awaited up close and personal feast for the eyes (as was the inside of the greenhouse I just visited).
Got the potato vines now. :D
Lilypon thanks for posting I really enjoyed all the photos. You make me want to run to the garden center. :)
I do have to say that TomTom has some of the prettiest containers I've ever seen.
Container gardening is something that has always caught my eye, and I did one of my first combination of more than four plants in one container last month. I photographed it when I first planted and the second was just a month later, of course I need to take a much better photo. But amazing it is really looking great now that the plants are filling in.
I had the croton plant, it gets more color as the summer goes on, put in the foxtail fern which I also had in the ground but wasn't doing so well, now it is doing much better, then added in potato vine and another very cheap vine I found on clearance.
Nice job sunkissed!! I love the different textures of leaves there.
Be careful Sunkissed because in your State I'm betting that would be a dangerous endeavor ;D I was good this year and just picked up 5 or 6 plants that were shipped up here from your sunny State. Of course here they are much more expensive (re shipping) but are of good size. In that group was two poor banana plants (they look very good but won't be happy with their winter quarters I'm sure). Thank you as well from me for additional ideas....I've got some of the plants you are showing so your lovely pots have certainly caught my eye.
Morganc I'm still trying to track down a split leaf philly or a Ti (sp?) plant. I did find both in Regina but at an expensive greenhouse. They were of very good size and the price tag was $50.00 :P each so am hoping Wal Mart, Home Hardware will bring some in (we are usually late receiving tropicals due to our planting out date of tenders on June 1st).
Early this spring and up to not too long ago we were having temps in the mid 70's to low 80's but with the jet stream and ENSO conditions (very La Nina like still here) we are now having biblical rains and SNOW is falling not too far away. My poor plants are spending too much time in the old garage/now shed or in my porch.
Meanwhile my lucky children are in Italy (son treated himself and his sister to this trip) and they took my advice and took time to smell the roses there. I spent the next two hours wiping off my keyboard. ;D I'd give my eye teeth for a plant to grow like that here.
This message was edited May 27, 2012 2:23 PM
