so cute and cheerful Shirley - what a great deck !!
Container Spillers
WOW Shirleyt...You sure have some great plants and great combos! I just love your pots too...especially that triple planter! What a gorgeous deck! Is that ornamental kale (dark purple) in that one pot on the bottom left? I love that stuff and have hesitated planting it.
It's all so beautiful! Thank-you.
Kat
Kat do not hesitate. It is so colorful in a winter garden that it makes you smile. It goes on and on under cool conditions. I have it planted in full sun, partial shade containers and in the ground. My HD loves it and it is one of the plants he cares enough for to demand each year. Here it is in an old whiskey barrel. The snaps are fixing to explode and it should look great shortly. They will just add to the fun. I have taken you tour of your place and am I impressed. I would not want to leave there if that place were mine. Enjoy. shirleyt.
Cathy those pots were chosen for me by my daughter Sandy who lives with us. She is a great Gardner and is helping me with plant choices that will be happy with our up and down temperature. The deck has bloomed some all winter and is now at its peak. Her home was a tropical paradise in an area that gets freezing temps. I want to do an area like that but I do not think it possible here , I am further north and do not have a privacy fence to block the cold. Oh my son chose the great three tiered one. I just love it. shirleyt
I'm jealous! Seriously all these beautiful containers in the milder parts of the country are something to envy this time of the year. We are only now starting to get a HINT of spring. It's been a long brutal winter. In about a month, I'll be starting to get my containers going, but they may have to live in the shed for a couple of weeks after that, depending on temps. Thanks for sharing your beauty!
I have lived for five years in Mass so I know of which you speak. I can get through the winter here much easier because our temps swing so much. Some cold and some warm days. Our trees have started to leaf out now which means it is truly Spring. The farmers are breaking up their land to plant and the sound of the tractor in back of my place is reassuring that it is truly Spring. Add that to the fact that I need to cut grass this week and I know Spring has truly sprung. lol It will be where you are soon. shirleyt
I need some advice! I have two big pots to put on either side of my deck in full shade. If I put a Fried Bannanas hosta in back and two Blue Elegans on either side, impatiants in the middle and Creeping Jenny in front would that look good? I do not know where to get Creeping Jenny though!! BEV Oh! all your containers planted are very nice.
dragonfly...that's a hard one to visualize. I don't know what Blue Elegans look like, but I'm assuming it's "blue". (blonde). No matter what color impatiens you put in, I think it would look great. I'm not sure about the creeping Jenny though as it's very green...I might go for something white and spilling. If you really want the Creeping Jenny, maybe mix it with Bacopa (my new favorite plant!) The Hosta's are going to be so green, do I'd do something contrasting.
Kat
Dragonfly (love your screen name by the way) - If it's full shade bacopas probably wouldn't do to well as they need some sun to flower - part shade would be OK. You've got the impatiens so that is adding some color. You could also add coleus which has many different colors of leaves available.
Golden Creeping Jenny would be a good choice to add some contrast as it is more of a yellow green. Hope this helps but remember it is OK to experiment - you can always move things around if it doesn't work out. Eleanor
KatG- How do you keep your pool deck so clean with so many plants???
This thread is killing me. It's supposed to snow on Monday. :-(
Warm weather come fastly!!! LOL
Such beautiful containers!
Oh TeriChris...it is such a mess right now and that was going to be my project today...but it rained like crazy (which I'm thankfull for!) It's just constant brooms/air blowers and hoses. I haven't even pressure-cleaned this deck as I think it keeps clean because I'm constantly hosing it down.
I fell in love with Dichondra 'Silver Falls' after seeing pictures of it in containers in plantfiles. I just had to have it so I bought some seeds. The package didn't have but 10 seeds in it. Stingy for the money I paid, but that's life in retail I suppose. Anyway, all ten seeds did germinate in four days using peat pots on a heating mat. My questions to any of you who use this in containers are....Should I plant these ten seedlings in one container? How long do you think it will take for my seedlings to get big enough to flow over a container similar to staceymom's picture in the first post?
deborah
KatG, your patio is BH&G material! So helpful to me just swooning over your container pictures. I notice a patina on your head containers. Is that moss? Did you make a moss slurry with buttermilk? I would love to learn how to do that and grow some on some containers in my shade garden.
I really am sorry for you guys with the bad weather! I'm serious...as I've been there as I grew up in Canada. That's about as cold as it gets!
I hate to tell you this...I just hooked up a wireless router and I'm totally blown away by the fact that I'm sitting outside on my lanai with my laptop, typing in the dark! II've got my outdoor fireplace on and it's pouring this beautiful steady rain and the air smells so fresh. You can water your brains out with the city water/well water...but there is nothing like a good natural rain.
Cordeledawg...The head planters and stands etc. came in that finish. I didn't have to do anything with them and I Love them as they really blend. OMG!! You have to see the two new planters I just bought! They're huge and it totally disrupts all my plantings. but I'll find a great spot for them! This just never ends, does it? hehehe
pictures! pictures! When you find that spot for your new planters, let us see pictures! Cannot hardly wait!
Yes, please keep the pics coming. Us northerners are so anxious to get our containers started. I've started some seeds inside under lights and I'm hoping they do well. This is my first year starting seeds so it's just experimental!! I've been pouring over books, magazines, and the Proven Winners website to get ideas for flowers and container designs. We still have about a foot of snow to melt - it is gone in a few places but not many and the snow banks are still really high. Hurry, hurry spring!! Eleanor
The Wisteria catalog came yesterday. I told my husband I want a "head" for my birthday. They crack me up! I have to take a picture of a house here in naples that has a giant one about 5 feet tall. I keep forgetting my camera. KatG you will have to have one made! How about a lfe size dog filled with asparagus fern. I am going to put the camera in the car right now.
OMG Terichris...YOU NEED A HEAD! Just wish they weren't so "stonefaced"! hahaha. I really do love my heads and they're growing so well!
I'm going to sleep really good tonight! I've been hauling soil and plants and filling pots all day! LOVE it though! I found these two planters at Lowes and they are gorgeous and huge! Sometimes you just find the greatest things, when you're not looking for them! These were that last thing I needed, but....
I filled the bottom of these containers about 1/3 with bottles, plastic plant pots, and the contents of my recycle bin...and it still took about 5 bags of potting soil. I wanted to do something really different, and I'm not sure I really like it. Found some beautiful topiary bouganvillia and it's just a differnent look for me as I have so many palms. Maybe once the bottoms grow, I'll feel better.
Another view...I did two!
OMG...I didn't even see my sweet little Zara in the photo...how cute is she?
This message was edited Mar 23, 2008 10:55 PM
a close-up of the underplantings...
I used Persian Sheild as a background, some Key Lime Heuchera in the front as well as my favorite plant - Bacopa (thanks to Gramypheob). More pics coming!
Kat, those pics are great! Especially with your lil darlin' at the top of the steps. She's a cutie!
Those persian shields shouldn't take too long to fill out, they can be 2 ft. tall and should make a big difference in how the arrangement looks. I think it'll be stunning. Keep us posted.
Judith
KatG - I love the containers and what you have done with the plantings. I think it will fill in nicely. Zara is certainly a cutie!! I've seen a lot of container designs using the persian shield and heuchera and I want to try them this year. I can always plant the heuchera in my garden next September instead of tossing it out witht the rest of my container plantings. As for the bouganvillia, well, I guess that has to stay a lot further south than zone 5 where I live!! Keep the pics coming of the progress of the containers. Eleanor
KatG- I moved my bougs out front & planted them. Too much debris to keep up with. I can't keep my pool area clean. The contrast on your new pots is really pretty. Look great with your furniture.
terichris...I know what you're saying!!!
Since I planted them on Sunday, I just haven't been that happy with them...I sound like a nut-case, but I'm looking at them everyday and thinking...is it the plant, or the pot? Well both didn't sit right, so I had this really strong young man with a "dolly" come over tonight and move them into the "Lizard lounge"! With dirt, they must have weighed 300lbs a piece! You're right, they're messy.
Just gives me another excuse to replace them! hahaha
They're perfect in the Lizard lounge! (and now you can see where things need to be cleaned up!)
The Geraniums have to go! I don't know what it is about those flowers...but I'm just not crazy about them. Sunday, I will have this area whipped into shape!
Judith and Eleanor...I love the containers, but they just weren't in the right spot! I was also a little concerned that boug's need at least 6 hours of direct sunlight per day...It was pushing the time limit where they were previously located...I think they're going to love their new location as it gets full sun most of the day. Eleanor... bring the Persian Shield indoors also. They're very resilient.
KatG - the containers look really good on either side of the trellis. Where did you get the 3 section trellis - I love it? I found plans for a 3 section trellis made from wood that I was going to make to put in a corner on my deck. If I could find something like that it would save me the trouble. Thanks for the info on the Persian Shield. Eleanor
p.s. - The geraniums are beautiful!! The red really pops!!
Staceysmom,
Just wanted you to know that I so loved the picture of your dichondra, that I just bought some seeds. I hope that it is easy to start.
I've started the Emerald Falls & Silver Falls Dichondra from seed last year & this year. I found bottom heat really speeds up germination.
joannabanana,
I start Silver Falls from runners. Pretty good success for the desert.
Where do we find the seeds? I'd like to give seeds a try?
Thanks,
Susie
I think most seed companies have them. I ordered my from Stokes Seeds. Most of the catalogs that I have are Canadian, but some do ship to the US. You may want to try Parks in the US.
Has anyone personally seen the corner iron plant shelves at Tuesday Morning? I got the flier a few days ago & they look beautiful. I don't want to make the trip if they are cheap though.....Anyone?