I just got back from a class called I Love Container Gardening. It must have been geared for the complete novice. I've learned way more from the fine folks on this forum! I was hoping it might teach me how to make a container that looks even 1/2 as decent as Tobee43's Ombre de Bronze (http://davesgarden.com/forums/p.php?pid=2591928), but they didn't even touch on composition. Anyone care to share their container "recipes"? Thanks, Tamara
Container gardening class...what a joke!
Wow - that's a gorgeous container!
One of my better containers included a tall orange dahlia, a
teracotta calabrochea, a heuchera, and a ipomea vine.
Tam
edited to say: it really isn't in the same league as the one you linked to
in your post.
This message was edited Feb 28, 2007 9:03 PM
Don't be so modest, Tammy! That's a beautiful container! Design is my downfall. I have plenty of ideas that look good on paper but don't translate well to real life. Guess I'll have to "cheat" and copy other people's containers.
;-) Tamara
Well - the recipe is a tall plant, some filler / mid level plants and some draping/vining plants.
And then match the colors. I just started using perennials in the last couple of years. In particular
I've found heucheras are wonderful for their folliage.
This is beginner stuff so I apologize if its too obvious, but you also need to fertilize very often.
I didn't know this my first year of container gardening and the flowers just petered out after a
month or so.
Here's another fun container - not sure sure its a stellar example of planting recipe. Another
heuchera, diascia and a bronze carex that wasn't big enough here to service the tall function here.
Tam
edited 'cause to fix typo
This message was edited Mar 1, 2007 7:12 AM
Tammy, I think I under fertilized everything last year. I used the slow release fertilizer in April/May, and the instructions said it was good for 3 months, so I didn't reapply. I will go back to using the liquid Miracle Grow that I used in 2005. Tamara
I don't remember who first posted this phrase or where it came from, but it's stuck in my head when planting containers...
You need "a thriller, a filler, and a spiller."
The thriller is your tall or focal plant, something dramatic. The filler adds interest -- a big of contrasting foliage, perhaps, or a cloud of little blooms. The spiller trails over the edge of your container to soften it and add to the impact of the arrangement.
Tammy, you've got a great eye!
I read something similar to that, too. My containers never look "lush". I want something that makes other garden people say "WOW!". I want to design something so spiffy I could enter it in Garden Gate's annual container contest. ;-) I been studying the containers that impress me, and I think I need to use more plants per container and more variety, and a container which really accents the plants. I will be experimenting this summer, and if one turns out really nice, I'll post it to see what everyone else thinks. Tamara
tamara - I've had really good success with a liquid fertilizer called algroflash. It has micronutrients.
I use it every watering (weak solution) and have bloom all summer long. And I can't wait to see
your posts!!!
Thank you Critterologist! I have the hardest time with my hanging baskets. The prettiest side is
the one facing outward, away from the deck (where everyone views them). I should probably get
those swivel hooks).
Tam
Tammy, thanks for the tip! Where did you buy it? Tamara
One thing you may want to consider, fancy containers probably were put together only a few days before. Take full grown plants, through them in a container, looks great. May last a while, but--
Just like the fancy displays at Home & Garden Shows. Look great, but in reality, ?
Thanks, CountryGardens. I have to remind myself that the garden industry, like the fashion industry, is based a lot on illusion. Tamara
I get my algroflash mailorder from Parkseed or from other similar places. (I stocked
up when they had a 35% off sale this winter.)
Bernie - I start my container plants from seed and plant up my containers with pretty small
plants. They look pretty pathetic when first planted. LOL I'm very lucky to have a greenhouse
so I can plant the plant the containers for my deck in April and put them out in May (it gets
REALLY crowded in there). And the rest of my containers don't start looking good 'til later in
the season but like the rest of the garden, that means different containers peak at different
times of the season.
Tam
PS: I am by no means an expert or really good at this. I just love having plants where I couldn't
grow them so plant out a lot of containers!
Tammy, I just placed my order from Algoflash for a liter of each: flowering plant, all-purpose, and tomato. It was painful to pay $40, but when I think about how much I spend on plants, it doesn't seem so bad. I really hope this works as well for me as it has for others (I read other reviews on it where people just raved)...I'm tired of working so hard in my garden for it to just look "okay". *crossing fingers* Tamara
Sharing is caring, even Barney knows that and he has a brain the size of a walnut, and so do I.
this
is a series.
Photos
from today's outing.
Simple is best, for beginner and advance planters.
Had enough?
We are not going to sell containers or any other plants this spring. we are finally tired of banging our head against the wall trying to sell things compared to the over done stuff sold a big boxes. You talk & talk about how they will fill out & look good for a long time. Stupid people would rather buy something that's about ready to go to seed.
Ok, off the soap box. we've been adding a time release fertilizer to the soilless mix. Seems to work pretty good.
You can only put so many plants in a container. Otherwise they just crowd each other & never look good. The big plants will always kill off small things.
Shhh, sleeping Lady Bug.
Kale in containers.
Here is a possible container combo...
That variegated nasturium looks cool! I've never seen that before! Tamara
Nice job Dale! Big, bold colors. I never thought of snaps in a windowbox. Terrific! I'll have to try that!
Diascia are "proven winners" as the saying goes. Very good for container culture. Nasturtiums are great too- strong shapes and colors, decent growth rate.
White impatiens, blackie vine and green elephant ears (mid sized) are good for semi shade container plantings. I like strong color and texture in foliage: white edged plectranthus, purple or multicolored perilla, small hostas, varigated vinca majors, peppermint geraniums...
Ground cover vinca will do well, provided that the plant is of decent length & size when you stuff it in. If you're doing a tall standing urn, their delicate trailing looks quite nice. I also use regular ivies for my trailers- they're tough and grow quickly. When the season's done, I plant them to over winter in the ground, and dig them back up in spring. Lamium is another one that fills well and is unusual. The yellow kind looks great with purple petunias!
I often will do a staggered color theme with complementary color accents- a strong orange, a sherbert and then a purple/blue to make the others pop. Or corresponding shades of violet with a strong yellow- purple verbena, purple majesty salvia for height, misty lilac petunia to fill, with yellow petunias or marigolds...
In a modern setting, single plant containers can be quite dramatic. Agave, fountain grass, alternathera red thread...
Sunny Border has some great garden porn: http://www.sunnyborder.com/pages/index.php?cat=O
Is it spring yet?
Here's my "recipe" for one of my favorite containers. It's on a shaded patio - an 18" pot filled with a sword fern, pink impatiens and a trailing variegated English ivy. I've had it for 4 years and it never fails to get a compliment.
One of my favorite containers a couple of years ago (which I will attempt again!) was Thunbergia-black eyed susan vine and nasturtiums with a few curly parsley plants tucked in and popping through the nasturtium foliage. I used about 5 two foot bamboo stakes that I lashed together with garden twine (Gilligan's Island raft style) and cut a few shorter cross beams to give the Thunbergia something to rest and climb on. Anyhow, a self made teepee with the mounding nasturtiums and parsley at the bottom. It turned out much better than I would have guessed.
I've got to break my flower-flower-flower habit and start using more of all the interesting foliage plants out there. Sometimes if there isn't a calm place for the eye to rest or a clear pattern, masses of flowers start to look like gorgeous chaos:LOL:
Bernie - I suspect that the folks smart enough to realize that containers will fill out
are the same ones that want to plant the containers themselves. I have a dear friend
who I just can't convince to buy smaller plants - she's just can't believe they'll ever
grow bigger to make the display she wants (or maybe its she's too impatient. LOL)
Dale - nice pic's.
Tamara - one bottle will last a long time. I use one capful per 2.5 gallon watering can. And
I'm not so sure the different types are actually all that different. Compare the ingredients
to see if the tomato, all-purpose and flowering are really different and let us know.
Tam
Tammy, thanks. I am so glad that digital cameras came along, finally.
