Time to show of your combo containers!

MIXED SEMPS AND SEDUM

Recent arrival from a dandy DG co-op buy. Ten of each. Very nice nursery planting. We should have lots of chicks to play with by end of this season. I bought the center piece to make the picture more ballanced.

Look at the big stack again. I have here in my possession a Rodale Press book that clearly states onions and lettuce are not good bed partners. Poo paw! ]:o)

Doc, I love your planters they really look great and I keep thinking I sure could eat a bowl of french onion soup. LOL
They were selling those stacking pots at the Phila. Flower Show but I bought a new set of hand pruners instead. I also jumped into that co-op and got some very nice plants same as you 10 plants each. I'll post a picture when I get my grouping all together.

Docgipe amateur chef's onion soup: Half a pot of spring onions diced up to the green stem, Quart of organic beef broth, pinch of fresh parcely and a pinch of fresh basil, an ounce of butter. Simmer hours until onions are soft. You choose the toast and cheese. For the adventursome souls add a pinch of lemon zest and just a dollop of A1 Steak sauce.

I'm foaming at the mouth over those planters and cringing at the time imagining what they run. Now there would be a nice co-op to do prior to next get together....hmmmm.....

Well Doc, you sure showed us how to make good use of our planting space, start with early harvest veggies, and as we harvest fill the empty spaces with annuals. Great lesson!

I will still have the herbs we use in there all summer. Keep them small by pinching the dickens out of them.

HOW did I miss this thread?????
I know--I know----ALL I look at are the ones I am "watching"....Now and then I venture out and see if anyone has started another Post of some kind...like this one! Then I feel like a fool!!!

I don't have any containers to brag about yet this year---They are all still in the "formative" stages. Hope I will be "impressed", or depressed, when I get back from my trip.
So much in them has died...especially all my Petunias. WHAT causes them all to whither and die???? I also don't seem to be able to grow marigolds! Never! And they are supposed to be so easy! I know that the squirrels and slugs are somewhat guilty...but it is still a mystery to me...

I am SO frustrated this year! Too many rabbits chewing everything down (I have the rabbit fences up--but they just keep chewing little "doorways" in them)--it is like a daily "search and mend" for me!

OK! So may I show you some containers from previous years???? Does that count? They are still mine.....right? :o))

This is my "Purple Pot"--taken in 2005

This is a mixed Coleus Pot--same year!

This is my forever-propagated-from-cuttings (maybe now for 25 years?) Angel Wing Begonia. I cut it back every Spring and root the tip-cuttings. Some of you got rooted cuttings at Jill's Spring (?) Swap.

About every 3 years, I take it out from the pot, discard the old, non-productive roots and re-plant the good ones in fresh potting mix. Those are the years I have this lush, new growth and an awesome plant.
This year--I never got to cutting it back, so it will have to remain tall and leggy....BUT, it will bloom more!

Here is what it looks like all cut back----Just FYI...

This is one of my favorite shots of my BIG pot on a tree stump in front of my house. This was taken in 2006. Later that year--the stump just fell over! Pot and all! It had finally reached a point of NO more roots to hold it up. It served me well since 1995 when my beautiful, Red Japanese Maple died b/c of the severe drought the year before...!

It had been holding my big pot up since then.,......

OK! Even though this is NOT a combo planter--it is still in a pot...that's in another pot....that is half-buried in the flower bed. I no longer have this Brugmansia, as 2 years ago--all my cuttings died during the winter rooting effort.....
This is the Dr. Seuss Brugmansia. OHHHHHHHH! The fragrance!!!!!

Doin' the happy dance as a friend rooted a cutting for me that I should be getting any day now....heard the fragrance was a good one!!

Realized grabbing a few pics yesterday, I have nowhere near the color on my front deck that I had last year :( Anyhoo, here's the combo for this year with Euphorbia cotinifolia - planted the blue Euphorbia 'Shorty' at its base, but never got around to planting anything to "spill".

Every year when I bring this one outside, it's cut back - this is what it looked like last year at the end of the summer, planted with Euphorbia 'Helena's Blush'

And this is the large hypertufa container I mentioned. Planted with Hosta 'Sun Power' in the middle - supposed to be tall and upright, like WHEN?? Hosta 'Radiant Edger' around the sides, Plectranthus 'Mona Lavender' to the right and two Blackie vines planted along the front. I really should have planted two more Blackies to make it fuller :(

Nothing exciting here, but from a distance they look nice. A pot on both sides of the arbor with Juniperus 'Gold Cone', a couple of Petunias and Dusty Millers I added for color.

Well I think that Gold Cone potted and placed by your arbor is a pleasing dress up to a possibly difficult spot. Nice work.

Debbie - does that Euphorbia 'Helena's Blush' stay upright through out the season? That color is great!!! Sun/Pt Sun or shade?

Thanks docgipe :) I just grabbed the purple Petunias on a quick trip to Lowes. I wish I had given it more thought and found one of the "Wave" Petunias, they might be more impressive!

Chantell, not sure but maybe I confused you? 'Helena's Blush' is planted at the base of the upright purple Euphorbia cotinifolia. 'HB' only gets about 18" tall. That container gets about a half day of sun - shade in the morning, sun after noon - 1 PM.

Yepper confused as usual...LOL. That Euphorbia cotinifolia is really pretty - that was the one I was drooling over then!! So does THAT one keep that gorgeous color and upright form?

Here is an updated picture of my Tropical group It's looking pretty good other than the Canna pot with it's rabbit bit canna and bug eaten OSP and then the Blue Lobelia in that pot just seemed to wither up unlike the other 2 plants that just flourished.

Close up of the Hibiscus

Here are a couple of pictures of my sedum's and succulents. Here is the whole grouping.

Most of the sedums came from the Co-op but I moved several from my stone wall also. This close up includes a variegated succulent vine that I picked up in a plant raffle and in the blue pot a mix from the Co-op.

This Blue Aloe also came from the Raffle. The Hobby Greenhouse Assoc has great plant raffles at all their meetings. and more co-op plants.

Finally my Boots, These are my old steel toe work boots. They were the last pair I wore before retiring. I think I wore them for the last 2 years before I retired.

This is the first Semps and Sedum nursery started very early in May. The chicks are begining to show while some are blooming. The plant with the highlight honors was marked "May Not Be Probagated". Jolk it is.....every cutting or break off takes off and establishes roots in three or four weeks. I think it is a Sedum....not sure.

HollyAnnS, I just LOVE your blue pot and also your work boots combos!!!!! :)

rcn...the e. oakhurst I got from you has sprouted and I have a few 1" seedlings :) thanks so much!

this is Purple Queen Setcreasea (tradescantia), Persian Shield, and white blue veined petunias

Holly LOVE those pics...how cute with those boots. If you decide you'd like some hardy yucca give me shout.

Wind - those purples are gorgeous!! So jealous - Persian Shield and i didn't get along a couple of years ago...not sure why...is it finicky for you?

I have a hard time getting container plants balanced out- Right now my silvery plectranthus is going gung HO in the hot afternnon sun pot, its friend creeping jenny is doing well but the intended centerpiece black EEs are fighting for their lives after surviving a major mite problem. I think I licked the mites but just want to get new leaves growing NOW. must fertilize. I tried to dig one out to swap with a Blackie but the roots are all grown together already!
The Blackie I puled out of a random mixed shade pot and was really surprised to see how dry the soil was. must water.

The boots the boots...yes the several boot introductions with Semps have caught my eye. I have the kids searching the yard sales for a pair of boots. They seem to belong in any garden as a surprise content. I can still see a pair of boots rigged up with a scarecrow and a hoe as an extension to the idea. A plastic bag pot in a shirt pocket would also support Semps. One growing out of the ear or nose would bring down the house. Who will be first to do it? There's no limit to this extension of a neat idea.

An update on my container, the Jester Ornamental Millet is sending up a seed stock, and the pot is filling in.

Doc, hope someone takes up your challange. Sounds interesting.

LADYGARDENER1..............I am but a toddler as far as potted plant management goes. I have grown Purple Millet. In the garden it goes up five feet. Do you think potted it would behave or is your millet a dwarf type that is designed to be potted?

The finches will love your seed head when it matures. It will take them about a week to clean one seed head. I save the seed heads and hang two or three close to my bird feeding site. Seems to work better. This is due to added inside a shrub protection in my opinion.

I wonder what your seed crossed with purple millet might produce. :)

Doc, This Millet is said to grow 42 inches, so potting it seems to keep it in check. I did have a Purple in this pot several years ago. It behaved well with the stalk getting about 4 ft. tall.
I think the pot is to close to the garage for the birds to mess with it, at least they have never bothered it before. But it could be there was enough feed in the feeders for them too.

My purple got much higher but I had it into super fertilized and healthy soil. I believe your report enough to go with purple and see what happens. I have to figure big because the soil is very healthy with worms and organic content above 15%. Strange seeminly I have to hunt for poorer soil or I get results bigger than average.

I use MG Moisture Control in all my pots and hanging baskets. Sometimes giving them a shot of fert. later in the season.
If I didn't used the MGMC all my pots would be fried!

Chantell, I have found Persian shield to be inconsistent, one year it grew pretty large and last year or the year before it stayed so short but it bloomed!!! I was shocked to see blooms...go figure. I really love it so I do buy it as an annual every year.

purple majesty millet, summer showers geranium and scarlet red magma coleus ~ all from seeds :)

Would someone identify MG. I use a potting medium with ten to thirty percent coir which effectively holds more water longer and in effect seems to produce good organic content that works very well in my pots. I am very pleased with the qualities of coir. Coir also contains an element of growth promoting purpose similar to alfalfa and kelp meal. My potting soils stay soft and open never forming the hard mass or pot full of hard roots and soil when only soil is used. I allways find living worms when I remove the plants and root mass in the fall.