I'll be looking for penta next, Gita. I love the "always in full bloom" part.
I keep a small amount of live herbs in a planter in my kitchen for convenience.
Show me your containers
Summer is finally warming up our caladiums.
We actually moved the pots to full sun for a week or so to kick start them.
We have a pair of these flanking the entryway.
We finally found a place where our lobelia seems to like it.
Our begonias are starting to show off also.
what the container looks like today
everything looks great Holly
ok, I'm going to attempt to post a picture of one of my containers.
It worked!Ok so it really doesn't sit sideways, just turn your head.
LOL Catbird, Here I was going to ask you how you get that interesting new look. Kinda like those upside down tomato planters. LOL
That looks really good, are those the lobelia I had at the swap?
No, I didn't get any lobelia from you, I think I got verbena. I love the color of lobelia.
nice CB... I love cleome
I love cleome also, Catbird. Did you grow them from seed? I tried twice this spring and then I read that they need to go into the freezer for at least six weeks before sowing.
Your container is looking great, Onewish. Don't forget that we are close enough for you to take a trip down here. Let me know when.
No RRR I did not grow from seed, got them at Ace I believe. I really like the spidery look of the flowers.
Roses, the easiest way by far to grow cleome is to just scatter the seed where you want them to grow in the fall or early spring when there are still cold days. Don't cover them - they need light to germinate. They are one of the easiest flowers to grow from seeds and will self sow if they're growing in an area where you don't have mulch and can get to the bare ground.
Holly, be sure to check for the Purpleheart next time you're at Walmart. It has dark purple leaves and little pink flowers.
Cat, so glad you posted that picture, I have been stuck in a rut with my tall plants in containers, always something spikey. You turned my thoughts in a different direction. Thanks.
yes we are RRR.... and I am pretty familiar with the area... used to go to a horse show in your town
Thanks for the cleome info Hart. I won't need to go thru the trouble of growing them under lights!
Let me know when you'd like to stop around, Onewish. (can't for the life of me remember anyone's real name, but later I go and look thru my d mails)
Allison... no worries.. most of the time I use Dave's names as well
Passi blooms,
I am so bummed about my seed grown passi... it's soooo slow... the thing is STILL only a few inches tall
boy if you want a sucker of hardy passionflower--eating me alive. Got one sucker in '07, blooms in '08 , this year I moved it and have pulled close to two dozen suckers in the old spot.
oh yes Sally I would love one
Sally, I didn't know there were Passi hardy to zone6? Of course there is a lot I don't know about Passi. I should check out their Forum.
Onewish this one is a seed grow passi from about 2 years ago. I was thrilled to have successfully overwintered it, thought it did look very rough this spring with the spider mites and all.
Years ago when I lived in downtown Philly in a 3rd floor walkup apartment in an old brownstone, I used to grow Passis on the fire escape. The entire fire escape structure had passis going up and down all of the wrongs on the railing. It was a wonderful spot for my across the hall neighbors to hang out with me on summer nights and drink cheap wine and play cards.
Holly, here you go, hardy to Zone 6a :) http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1264/ I planted one last year but it was weak and spindly, didn't get watered, etc., etc. and never made it through the winter. I planted one last month in a container and if I can overwinter it maybe I'll try planting it in the ground next year. Your Caladiums are beautiful! I am so bad, I just got mine planted several weeks ago :( They're just starting to push up out of the soil so maybe I'll still have time to enjoy them this year.
I should have planted it in a container... too late... who knew it was going to be this mild ... but the one I started is a maypop and supposed to be hardy to 6b... think I might just take a cutting this fall and leave the plant in the ground to see how it goes
onewish, passsi roots very easily, you should have no problem. Ric
I took a cutting of that one already to give to Michele... it did root pretty easily
When I pull up these pasi suckers, they come out with a long straight root and no real side roots. I have put a bunch into a bucket of water to see if they make some side roots before planting. I got this from Susan51 (pretty sure) at the swap at hart's in 06 (very sure) She called it hardy passionflower. Beleive me, it barely lived that first year and only got about eighteen inches tall. The second year it grew to about ten feet and bloomed and made a couple of suckers. I dug up the main plant this spring (I thought) and moved it. I still had sprouts from where the main plant was plus all these suckers. It could be a real problem plant!
I have a friend who lives in LA--They HATE Passis as they seem to be VERY invasive!
Kind of like Trumpet Vine here....No love lost there for this plant!
G.
Gita, I've seen trumpet vine pics from California, it's the kudzu of the west, the only thing that grows faster is Arnold's debt. LOL Ric
Lots of nice potted flowers. I am a bit late with some of them just now getting ready to show. I'll show some more in a few weeks. This is my 2009 edition of the NJ Stacking Pots with herbs in the smaller top pot. This one is about ready to thin out, deadhead and get ready for a second show peek at the peak.
stacking pots look great!
Your stackers look great Docpipe. The stackers are the only place that I put annuals and sometimes I wonder why I stick with perennials everywhere else. More interesting varieties, I guess, but not the same bloom power;
Sally, amazing shot of your Passi and that hungry little fellow! Doc, your stacking pots are great - beautiful rich colors and obviously very happy!
I finally took a couple of pics of the containers with the planting of succulents we picked up at Lowes this spring. Rick planted most of them in the deck planter where our vegetables were earlier this spring but I haven't taken a pic of those yet. These were the "leftovers" combined with a few of our existing Cactus, etc.
I have no idea what we'll do with those in the deck planter - they'll have to be lifted before frost :( Probably pot them up in another container like this one.
nice stuff Rcn!!
Nice planters.................I let winter get all those neat sedums and such that can not take frost. Had to cut down on the overall work details. We have one small slow growing indoor planting for them.
rcn- love those pots of cacti etc too. I count about a dozen in each- nice small investment there.
I have a small assortment of succulent type things and try to keep at least a small division of each over winter to grow on. doc, I would have thought sedums were more hardy than that in winter- at least THEY say many are. I had a piece of tender Graptopetalum make it thru once, buried in leaves against a south facing wall. But this past winter even knocked out all but a few sprouts of big old cannas buried in canna debris.