Thanks zuzu; I must take another picture and post it - my plant has two yellow flowers open now, more to come, and there's four red ones open. It really likes the south facing deck its on-full sun from early a.m. until mid afternoon.
Gerbera Daisies in Containers
Oh, and the 5th and sixth blooms are coming on after the pot got blown off of its plant stand and the potting soil all disturbed. I scooped it back in and tamped it back down and the buds were so small that they didn't get affected by the fall. I like to think that the Lord had something like this in mind when he said "Consider the lilies of the field..." White Easter lilies, while lovely, aren't as striking, I think.
Martha
I have a huge amount of Easter lilies but agree with you that the Gerberas are much more striking. I checked my pot and it's alive with buds - THANK YOU
ZUZU! It is higher up in the big pot than the others. Our local Agway has one big pot at 75% off but no buds to give me any idea as to the color. Maybe I'll splurge: pots at 75% off also.
Pirl, I'd buy just about anything at 75-percent off. How exciting! How much do potted gerberas cost in New York?
I have the advantage of living near a Safeway that gets rid of everything in the florist's shop the second it starts losing its consumer appeal. They evict these beautiful potted plants and set them by the entrance at ridiculously low prices. I've bought so many slightly wilted gerberas, azaleas, mini-roses, hydrangeas, and kalanchoes for 99 cents or $1.99 apiece.
I really should be outside but this site is so inviting!
Gerberas cost $4.99 up here. So for $1.25 I could get a big healthy plant. If it's still there tomorrow I'll pot it up separately and see what happens.
SCORE! I got the Gerbera just before closing time! It's in a terra cotta pot, all by itself, in the original plastic pot. There are two dark buds way down at the base. This is so exciting!
ZUZU - Thanks for being an enabler to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Should I feel proud or guilty? Anyway, I'm delighted for you.
No guilt, just pride, she got a great deal on a beautiful flower! I hope we get to see pics when it flowers pirl:)
Rachel
If I get the strength (and a jacket) to go outside (it's so cool now: 57 degrees at 7:41) I'll take a group photo and then my new Gerbera. I'm open to all suggestions to rearrange the pots in the courtyard. I know the old geraniums in the lighter pots on the steps need cutting back but a few other gardens are taking precedence.
Please let me know if you want me to post the photos here, since they're integral to the courtyard, or on Garden Art or some other forum. Thanks.
ZuZu - you brightened my day so please don't feel guilty. Be proud!
I think everyone wants your pictures to be posted right here. And I do feel quite proud.
Just one more email to go and then I can check them out and send them. I really do need help with the courtyard! I have a neighbor, Anne the Dumb, who said last year, when I had them all in the center, "Aren't you afraid people will fall over them?". No, I can't imagine serving that much liquor that anyone could possibly miss them, much less fall over them. That's why I named her Anne the Dumb!
Okay - here's the courtyard as seen from the driveway.
The pots in front of the kitchen window.
THE BARGAIN GERBERA
One of the attached brick boxes that I'd like to change to flowers: ivy keeps getting under the vinyl siding.
Any ideas would be appreciated but we do open the windows so it can't pass them in height. Thanks to all who have the imagination I lack out here.
Jack, my DH, keeps saying we need a Bistro set with a Cinzano umbrella!
Arlene
What a wonderful collection of pots too! How do you keep everything so tidy!!!
My place has a more "informal" look, which means I tend to have a few left over
pots or spilled dirt laying around my containers. :-)
Vinca is a little less invasive w.r.t. growing up buildings than ivy and still be low.
Hi Tammy - It only looks neat because I haven't been out there messing it up.
We had vinca in the brick boxes and it still got under the shingles and sneaked through every crack it could find it the brick.
I'd like flowers - annuals would be fine.
Arlene
Pirl, the first thing I have to say is that your bargain gerbera is a beauty! It's so big and lush. Sorry about not using your real name, but I'm so used to calling you Pirl that Arlene seems alien to me.
You and I are obviously shopping at the same places because I have all of those pots. I think they look great, but I agree with your husband about the bistro set. It would look perfect right there. Is your house brand new? Everything is so clean.
By the way, don't believe a word Tammy says. Her garden is gorgeous (and quite neat, in my opinion).
I tend to have a much more crowded garden because I can't resist buying plants every time I go out. Consequently, every inch of space got filled a long time ago and I've been reduced to converting totally unsuitable spaces into gardens. The group of flower beds in the picture below is in what used to be the driveway. I had truckloads of potting soil brought in and made deep rock-rimmed beds right on top of the asphalt. Good thing I don't have a car anymore because there's no way it could ever get into the garage. This picture was taken in the middle of March, before most of the stuff out there had even started to bloom. Now you can't even see the rocks around the flower beds or the paths in between them anymore. Godetia has seeded everywhere and the whole space looks like a godetia plantation. If the rain stops before the godetias do, I'll take a picture of them.
Wow! You do have a passion for flowers and planting. I've never seen godetia and even if I loved it I now worry about where to put everything. Just trying to clear out the rose garden, after not being able to do any heavy outside work for exactly a month today, is a daunting task. Everything has to be ready for the Garden Tour on 7/9 - panic starts in soon. At least I could manage to do all the pots but how to arrange them in the courtyard still bugs me.
The house is 45 years old but we did over the inside and had a new roof, most new windows, new siding, etc. installed. Thanks for the "neat" words.
Arlene
Buds 7 & 8 have appeared at the bottom of my Gerbera. This is after fertilization with Miracle Gro and falling off the stand. 5 & 6 are blooming right now. Gotta love these babies.
Martha
Once the head dies can I collect the seeds or do I need to let it mature until Fall then collect them? i assume the seeds are in the center of the flower. Linda
Martha - mine are still doing fine but if I find another one at 75% off I think I'll send it up to you since, obviously, you have the knack for growing them!
Linda - I believe most, not all, flowers require the seeds to dry on the plant. Some weeds don't! From what I remember when my DH did it you have to plant the seeds at an angle to 3/4 of their length but please don't take my word for it! Consult an expert.
Arlene
Thanks to all the sweet encouragement and the 75% off sale you'll recall I bought a big Gerbera, not in bloom. Since United Parcel was responsible for the death of six plants, even though I had them replaced, the one container missing out on a thriller in it was my salmon one: the Gerbera is salmon. THANKS TO ALL.
So today I bought two in pink. I saw them last week and decided to change my brick planting boxes next to the front steps and put it every flower I just loved. Bought them all and now get to remove all the ivy and plant them.
My darling daughter stopped over yesterday and marveled over the salmon one and mentioned she killed her Gerbera. I told her of your advice and maybe she'll try again.
OK - time to share some pictures of the new scheme Arlene!
I'll start with BEFORE photos of each planter in the morning and even show the amount of lovely but wild ivy I'm ripping out and then the compost going in and then the plants along with the AFTER photo and then me lying in the courtyard sound asleep!
sounds like a fabulous idea! I always forget to take the before shots.
Have fun! You'll deserve a nice nap when you're all done :-)
He can wake me up in time for cocktails at 6 PM sharp.
Arlene, here's the godetia I was talking about. This is how they come in handy. This is a freesia container and it should look really lousy after the freesia stop blooming, but the godetias reseed everywhere and keep even this container looking good.
This is a scree bed for alpines and succulents that don't need soil. It's concrete covered with rock and gravel. Almost no soil at all, but the godetias don't care. The alpines and succulents are buried under all of that, but it doesn't hurt them, and as soon as the godetias finish blooming, I get my scree bed back.
Oh Zuzu: they would work perfectly in the back of the rose garden, against the house. It's dry there (under the eaves) and they'd go so nicely with the roses.
I finished the job, yesterday, at 5:47 so he didn't have to wake me up at all. He took me out to dinner - what a sweetie!
I love the Gerberas best of all and ended up with many colors and it's just not stunning as I wanted it to be but I do like it. Maybe just one more plant............
Arlene - you are a gardener to the core! Of course, just one more plant will
make it better :-)
Never even left the property, busy with more pots for the shady walls and hosing down the 45' brick terrace. Combine that with our visit to our Alzheimer neighbor, who refused to acknowledge that his wife is actually his wife and he had packed to leave (not allowed to drive and nobody would think of taking him to the train or bus), and you can see why I finished at 2 PM, showered and slept.
That Gerbera, the one I bought at 75% off, goes well enough in my big peach pot in the courtyard. I'm so pleased with my $1.25 purchase!
I wish these thumbnails were double in size. Hope it's the finished pot.
Oh boy, Arlene. I love pots full of stuff. Those are lush!
Thanks zuzu! The purple one wins my vote, again!
Oh, my vote too. It's positively stunning. Do I see some heliotrope in there? I love heliotrope and I've never quite got the hang of keeping it alive for very long. I keep getting conflicting instructions: sun, shade, dry soil, moist soil, etc. What do you do for it?
Yes, two heliotrope. I plant them with Osmocote, Epsom salts and water crystals: that's it. Full hot sun in the courtyard and water when I remember: I try for twice a week but don't often make it.
Thanks, good to know. They are beautiful. Around here, containers in full sun have to be watered at least once a day, twice in August and September. That's when the temps here can soar to triple digits.
My back kills me when I try to stand and water so when I was doing over the brick planters in the courtyard, on Saturday, I had the hose going a few hours in the rose garden and then about an hour for the pots. Even the next morning there were big wet circles around the plastic pots so they got a good drink.
August can be hot here, too, and I think I'll water them with the sprinkler.