My son's wants silver, black, and red. I have seeds for 'Silver Dust' dusty miller and 'Silver Falls' dichondra seed. He doesn't like any kind of purple tint (that's a girl color, don't ya know). And, of course, the red has to be a true red with no hint of *icky* pink or purple. ;-) Any ideas? Tamara
Please help me with container for my 6 y.o.!
WHAT? Purple rox! =P
What size container?
I have several sizes, so I'll just use the right size container for the # of plants. Tamara
What about: Ipomoea sloteri, given something to climb, in the back of the container? It will give you the red (and a good supply of hummers). Artemisia schmidtiana will give a nice silver color, as well as a different texture (kids like to touch ;) ) and makes a nice mid-sized filler plant. Black is the most difficult, with the "no hint of purple" restriction. Even black tulips, or ornamental millet are actually a shade of purple. Maybe make the pot black? *shrug*
HTH,
Eggs
Colocasia esculenta 'Black Magic' or my favorite Colocasia esculenta 'Illustris'. There's also Sedem 'Black Jack' if it is a container in the sun. Also Black Mondo Grass, there's some black begonias like black fang (my 5 year old would like it for the name) or Begonia 'Midnight Twist' or B. Miss Mummy' looks very dark also and has polka dots.
Tukana™ Scarlet Imp from Proven Winners is the reddest red flower I've seen in pots or a red begonia rex would be fun for a six year old. There's also some very bright caladiums like Frieda Hemple that have bright red leaves.
I think the silver trailer I had last year was 'Silver Falls' dichondra and it did really well.
Give him a pot of Venus Flytraps. My kids love all the carnivorous ones.
I think what we'll do is just use a basic terracotta pot and then I'll let him paint it black. He loves to do that kind of stuff. I love all the ideas for plants...thanks so much! Tamara
I think ipomea 'Blackie' & dichondra 'Silver Falls' would be awesome together, & try to get him to reconsider purple-Persian shield, setacresia, coleus-all long-lasting, interesting plants-black mondo grass would be great, but it's a little pricey-black tulips are good (have some in pots now), but they don't last too long...other odd, interesting, low-care plants plants are sedum, herbs (harvest some for dinner), lantana (bright & drought tolerant)...
I went to a gardener's workshop today, and saw 'Black Pearl' ornamental pepper. That is definititely going in there as long as it isn't too expensive. I thought about it, and since most "black" plants are pretty pricey, I'm just going to go with small containers of things I can find locally, and then let him go nuts with the paint. He decided that it has to be black with silver stripes. Hmmm....maybe I should put that one right on my front steps. hehe Tamara
Tamara,
I grew Black Pearl last year, for the first time. It's a beautiful ornamental. I grew it with Ipomea 'Marguerite' last year, and the contrast was spectacular. The peppers look like black marbles, and ripen to a bright red, which stands out against the dark foilage. It's all a dark shade of purple, rather than black, which was why I didn't suggest it.
g/l
Eggs
Maybe I should just let him paint the pot, and then we'll get some silk flowers and paint those black and silver too. ;-) Tamara
Garden6, thanks for the tip! And, I do have some 'Sugary' grape tomato seeds...I think I will do that. :-) Tamara
Thistle, i was racing down to the bottom to post exactly what you said....a proven winner for black
What a great idea! I really like dark plants so I'll suggest a few. I had a very dark perilla (P. frutescens) last summer, it's nearly black, flowers spoil the effect, so if it flowers, snip them off. You might try Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens' aka Black mondo grass on the edge of the pot. It would make a cute window box plant later with some white 'Baby Boo' pumpkins. Can't beat 'Blackie' sweet potato vine, of course that's been mentioned already. I hope my Persicaria microcephala 'Red Dragon' comes back, it's a monster once it takes off, has all the colors your boys want (black, silver, and red), so is essential, but it likes shade so you might want a separate pot combined with maybe a silver painted fern. Or just a blood red impatien, he he.
http://www.greenbeam.com/features/plant051401.stm
Here's a picture that shows the corner of my garden that had the Red Dragon, the other tall black plant is a Cimicifuga. It needs some sun for best color, but needs afternoon shade and moist soil to thrive.
Great combo PrairieGirl! Thanks for the tip! Tamara
Tamara ~ you're welcome!