Container Plantings

I finally had an opportunity to post some pictures of the containers I planted for the front entry - had promised Becky and Chantell pictures back in May and here it is almost July! http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/739028/ I still have a long way to go to finish up with the painting of the front door (s) and sidelights, but it will probably have to wait until fall - I've been busy planting :) I haven't had a chance to get any pictures of the gardens we've been working on but hopefully soon! Maybe by then we'll actually have the "disappearing fountain" with the vase on the left finally done and I can post pictures of that too - it's alot more work than I had originally thought to get it up and running!

Debbie

For those of you who hadn't seen this picture before - this is the "mess" I started with last fall - thought all winter about ways to improve it - still haven't got the pergola I had planned for this area but after seeing all the containers in place and realizing how fast the trees are growing I'm thinking a pergola will make it look too "busy"!

That's a breathtaking difference -- it looks gorgeous now.

what she said !

Debbie, that is so inviting! Nice work.

Debbie: Looks good. I know that you create some fabulous container plantings. Would you mind posting some close up pictures of your containers?

- Brent

Thanks everyone - Happy, I'll be happier with the results when I finally get the painting done to complete my "vision" from my winter brainstorming :) Three or four years ago we had a few nice containers in this area and they got scorched from too much sun - hence my quest for a pergola. Now that the trees have grown that much more, I'm finding the containers to the left of the door actually aren't getting enough sun - go figure!

Brent - did you take a look at the pictures in the thread in Container Gardening? (link above) - if you need them closer I'll be taking more soon and I'll post them for you.

I tried to get a shot of my favorite container yesterday morning but it's an odd angle since it's on the top step and I set it on a table to give a little more height for better viewing from the driveway - now I'll need a ladder to get a good shot!

Picked up this Cordyline back in April at one of the Markets at Green Spring - then searched for the "right" companions - THEN had to find a pot large enough to accommodate all of them! I'm pretty sure the Coleus is 'Freckles' - needs to be pinched soon! I wanted an icy blue plant to spill over the edges, picked up this Senecio - love the blue, but it's not spilling :(

And for Brent, a little closer :)

gorgeous

Very nice! Is that lavender peeking out under the coleus?

Sorry, I must have missed the link in the first post...nice!!

The past two years have been "the" year for me to start with container plantings...but so far not much has occurred. I have purchased a few containers and I have been playing around with some plants from the swap for one container but I still have not put together anything that I am happy with.

- Brent

Thanks for posting them - you did an awesome job, my planters are a total mess, some growing too much, some growing not enough :) I think this fall is the time for another road-trip to Williamsburg pottery - bigger and better pots, maybe no rain this time :)

Chris, it's Senecio mandraliscae (Blue Chalk Plant) http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/57976/
I was looking for something this color to spill over the sides - thought about Helichrysum http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/54990/, either the silver or gold (Limelight), a great plant for containers but it's never looked good by the middle of August - doesn't deal well with heat and humidity. I picked up a couple of pots of Artemesia 'Silver Brocade' http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1369/ and I'm going to play with it and see if it will work better in this container - i.e. "spill" over the edges.

Brent, I have the advantage of watering hundreds of plants every day and my mind goes crazy thinking about combinations - "hey, that would look good with this, or that, or I could plant this here, or there!" LOL If there were only enough hours in the day!

Went to a local garden center last night with a few friends - THEY wanted to pick up a few plants - Rick told me not to buy any more Begonias (Rex, that is) because ours have done poorly over the winter and are taking forever to perk up. I was good...I didn't buy any Begonias.... BUT I did pick up a few more plants for a another container and hopefully will get them potted up today and will take pictures to post - can't wait to see what the combination looks like. I have a few of the containers I painted just sitting there begging me to plant something in them and I couldn't resist! Just call me hopeless, my daughter says I have a "disease" :)

Debbie

Debbie - simply gorgeous!!! Love those colors!!! I find heights a challenge in containers - never quite looks the way I thought it should. Yours look perfect.

Becky - rain? What rain? Oh yeah, that little "sprinkle" - LOL Yeah, I NEED pots too!! When we going?

This message was edited Jun 29, 2007 12:15 PM

Bumping this, a month later I've finally posted a few photos of the 'new' container planting http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/739028/#new I've got alot of Coleus cuttings that have rooted and thinking maybe I need more containers!!

I am totally bummed :( I spent a ton of time this year trying to find the "right" combinations for 'thriller, filler and spiller' containers so I could enter them in Fine Gardening's container contest and realized yesterday I missed the deadline for submitting entries!!!! The normal deadline is Sept 1 but this year they changed it to August 15th - somehow I got confused? I was upset this weekend because Rick had pinched back one of my spillers "because it needed it"! Okay, so it did need to be pinched, but I told him his timing was way off because I had to take my pictures to submit this week, no problem now :(( Oh well, there's always next year, right?

Oh rcn, so sorry!
I would enter anyway. You never know what may happen. Do you just submit photos? Send them! Maybe with a note about the changed deadlines. They may get it anyway and there may be others submitting late too because of the changes. Your containers are gorgeous and deserve to be seen.
Good Luck!
Joyce

Debbie: Joyce makes a good point, but I'd phone them first to pitch your case.

Okay, I mulled it over for two days and have finally decided it was my own stupid mistake. I have Michelle Gervais' email address - she's one of the FG editors you have to submit your photos to. Really nice gal - had a few conversations with her two years ago when my container was chosen as one of the top ten. She's originally from Virginia - Smith Mountain Lake!! Two or three times I was all set to email her but figured it's really not fair - I blew it and I'll just have to live with it :(