SUCCESS IN POTS

It is the time of the year when our plants in pots seem to be at their best. Please share your successes with us.

Love your picture. What is that beautiful green, 2 tone?

A few more.

OH! Lost my second post. Darn! At any rate, repeating myself, I stuck mostly successes of the past: tuberous begonias, fibrous begonias, and impatiens.

Will have to look it up in the daylight Jnette. A non-hardy shrub of some vairety. I keep it in the greenhouse over the winter.

They are all beautiful. Too bad it is so close to the end of winter. I have my tuberous begonias, dahlias etc. out waiting for the frost to hit them and then I will prepare them for the winter.

Sharon verry pretty.

Do you do that with more of your plants? Keep them over winter? You know, I have found that if you take cuttings from coleus and start new plants going into winter that you have nicer plants the next summer. Have any of you tried that? I wonder if that would work for some of the plants like you have in your containers.

I save coleus cuttings every year. This is one flat from spring. I really went overboard had a total of six flats. Way to much work. A few of my containers.

Wow! Nice! Yes, I also take cuttings and/or dig some of my container plants. Haven't had too much luck in the greenhouse for coleus as I don't keep it warm enough. ($$$$) Will try that in the house this year. The fibrous begonias start nicely as well as the geraniums and impatiens. Have had some luck with the calibrochia and even some of the petunias. The tuberous begonias I just leave in the pots and let them dry out over the winter in the greenhouse that is part of the barn---they don't need light when they go dormant, just dry and not freezing. They will also start from a cutting if you so desire......

Yes, I have had fairly good luck with begonia cuttings but haven't tried anything else you named. Petunias are so easy from seed I have been doing that. But, getting tired of starting a lot of seeds in my kitchen. They do good with the heat mat and lights, but most people start them without and have just as good a plants. Just takes longer without the heat and lights.

You don't have the cold that we have over here. I hear our winter isn't going to start until the end of November. Wonder if it is going to end in June. LOL, might as well as cold as our Junes have been the last couple of years.

Your pots are lovely.

I had the worst containers EVER this year.
Lessons learned:
1) Start VERY early or they never fill in
2) Stop going to Chicago once a month because housesitters let them all die anyway.

Just incredible, thanks for sharing.

Jan

Summerkid, if you take a month off from tending them after planting, they don't have a chance. That lesson should be at the top of your list. Just doesn't work.

Beautiful baskets. Love the dark red begonia with the black leaves. WOW

Thanks Willow. I got that from costco. Switzerland Begonia. Those $12 bags

I have had those dark leaved begonias and they are beautiful.

I am always in awe of everybody's gorgeous, colorful leafy and floral containers. Thanks for sharing them.

Me too. For some reason I can't do them right. Maybe next spring we can get a lesson from the one's who can do it beautifully.

I am going to post a picture of a begonia and a geranium side by side. I didn't know these were what I had but when they started blooming, I couldn't believe how close in color they were.

The sun was on them when the picture was taken so they appear faded. But, they are a very deep red.

Neat. Love the begonia. Had fushcias on the front porch and I want begonias next year.

I put trailing fuchsias in my rail plantings with the lobelias and bacopas and they come out real nice.

Jen, I want that shrub NOW. I Googled it and it will grow here and I could have it in my containers in my semi shaded courtyard. Looks like it is sold in Portland, Seattle and your area. I am so into variegated. I could not find it for sale on line.

LOL, Sharon, you have got to be kidding!! There is no way I would ever find a plant like that now. Possibly next May or June. I sent you an email with a web site where you might be able to get it in California. Do you know how big that gets? But, I suppose if you put it in containers that would keep it small. A lot of plants are like that.

Jen

I'm near Seattle, and I just saw one at a local nursery's 50 percent sale. I was considering it, but I wasn't sure if it would make it through the winter planted this late. I got a red leaved barberry with a golden edge instead.

My son lives in Spokane. I will have him go to the nursery there and see if they have one. They can send it to me for Christmas.

Jen, I was not expecting you to get it for me. I was just stating my obsession and I knew you would understand because you know I am crazy and will go the end of the earth to find "The Special Plant" of the day. LOL. Sharon

It's a small and low-growing cv. - if you find an old specimen it might be 6' wide and 18" high, but more often it is less than 3' x 1'.
It is not particularly hardy or vigorous.

Holly that barberry sounds beautiful. I'll have to look for one. When I went to Alderbrook I brought back my barberry that grows in a column. Love 'em.

Sharon, I know you didn't expect me to get you one. Just no nurseries in this area that would be open to sell shrubs. I don't think he would find one in Spokane either. But, he might. Jen

I have the third car part of the garage for my zone pushers. I have already moved my plumeria and tropical hibiscus into the garage.

I had a hummingbird buzzing me in the courtyard this morning when I was having my morning tea. Maybe they know we are going to have a warm winter.

We are going to be 72 degrees again tomorrow. I have a garden helper coming tomorrow to help me clean up the garden. I will be glad when that is done. Have a great Monday. Sharon

ATP just opened a PNWS forum!

(Edited to remove the link.)

This message was edited Dec 12, 2012 3:35 PM

Rick, I don't know if you are aware there was a bunch of upheaval between these sites a few years ago. I'm not sure if it is okay to advertise the other site here. I enjoy your contributions, and wouldn't want you to step into a conflict unawares. For myself, this site has been an internet home for me for a while, and I'm not sure I want to move to a new place.

Ditto...

Just because you look at both sites doesn't mean you are disloyal to DG.

I look at both sites but I spend the majority of my time on DG. The majority of subjects I am interested in have very few posts. But I do think Admin would give you a bad time for posting a link to ATP. That is why I said Ditto.

Probably a good point. I thought the issues had been resolved, but I don 't want to be scolded by Admins.

For the record, I have NOT yet been scolded, at least not for that. I think that was knuckle-rapped once or twice for thread drift, which certainly IS something I repeatedly commit.. Maybe, once, politics?

Rick, think we all get knocked for "thread drift" from time to time. But, most of the ones who start the thread don't care. Some are adamant about it tho. Stick to the subject!! There is only so much you can say about most subjects tho 'till you start repeating.

I have connected with a couple of former DGers on Facebook, only to find they are rabid in the political department. So, I do appreciate the 'no politics' stance of this and other gardening sites. Keeps folks civil.