Planning Containers for this summer

many thanks. I have located fir bark fine @ a local nursery where I get my mulch/compost so will go w/ their fir bark. thank you again. m

We get a yard of it here for $24. Soil Pep. I buy it by the truck and trailer load, Usually 10 to 12 yds each year. I used to use medium bark the Shi.kins kept placeing it everywhere but the beds. Now with the pep they get what they want with a little scratch. They are so funny I have been digging lots this spring and when I flick the worms to them they let me pet them and they sit down by me talking all day. One thing I have noticed that they have a concentration of 2 sec. Quite A.D.D.

Now that everyone's pots are starting to show their stuff I thought it would be fun to show them off!
I saw somewhere that Summerkid was growing silver fir tree tomato this is my first year with it and it seems to do well in pots..although it seems to be giving the petunias grief.

I just planted a container yesterday. I put in the 'persian shield that I bought weeks ago in the middle and put a light purple petunia and a white with purple throat petunia toward the back, then two million bells in dark purple and lighter purple in the front. And some of the lobelia I grew in between the petunias. Should be pretty and will get a picture as soon as it grows a little. Got some red million bells and lobelia planted around the bog andromeda. Put the coleus, impatients and lobelia in the pot by the greenshed. Don't know if it will look good but I had to put them somewhere.

Linda, I don't even have many of my pots planted much less have them looking good. Maybe by the end of August I will have something to show off. I figure the weeds and the slug control are more important right now. (And a bit of partying, also.)

I've been a slacker as well. I've got a few annuals sitting here waiting for me to get my act together but nothing fabulous at all. I wanted less to take care of this summer.

Katie, did you buy your red clover or sew from seed? I don't recall seeing it in the nursery. Very effective both in fullness and in color. BRACE for the heatwave!

Not really full yet but it looks pretty good.

This one has a ways to go.,

My biggest container-full-up

Gorgeous, Patricia!

Velveteena, I got the clover at a nursery (probably Fred Meyer). It doesn't really look like much until the yellow blossoms pop out. It really adds a lot to a pot in July and August.

I haven't done much other than put Heucheras in my pots. They seemed to be doing the best in the weather we had. I had hoped to get to my other pots over the weekend, but was gone most of the time. Maybe this weekend . . .

You have no idea how beautiful that looks up here in Alaska Patricia. Been cold and very wet. Though today is the first day of sun in 3 weeks. I just want to set and smell the flowers.

Linda, that is one happy tomato!

Willow, I still swoon every time I see your courtyard.... it is just so very pretty.

My containers are all pretty pathetic right now. At least the gloom over the last couple of months was good for something.... it kept me from being motivated to go plant shopping!

Willow, your courtyard looks great. :)

It's funny how many of us haven't done as much as we usually do with containers this season. I've been "artfully" (well, in theory) dispersing empty ones around the yard rather than filling them, but I still have some annuals to deal with. I can't imagine summer without the scent of petunias, so I bought a couple. I just don't seem to have any creative ideas on what to do with them now, though.

I've got a couple of pots going - unfortunately the wet weather has not subdued my desire to buy plants...

Here is a set of pots in part shade by my pond with a muted chartreuse and purple color scheme. The big one in the middle has a purple banana, heucherella 'Stoplight', bronze fennel, ipoema 'Margarita', and some trailing sweet peas that haven't started to bloom yet. The other pots have a variegated canna, various purple heucheras, chartreuse hostas, and one japanese painted fern. I'm pretty happy with them although anxious for the trailing things to start trailing!

This message was edited Jul 10, 2010 10:06 AM

And here's another set going in almost full shade (my track record for full sun pots is dismal!).

This is a spot right in front of my hose and a couple other ugly things. The plants in the ground were getting alternately decimated by slugs and trampled on by boys in search of water to play in. So I dug them up, bought a few filler type plants, and put them all in pots.

The middle one has a Japanese Holly Fern in the back (that I got for $3.50 at Home Depot on the clearance rack), and three different Tiarellas surrounding the New Guinea Impatient and coleus.

The one on the right is Brunnera 'Looking Glass' with Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost' and the one on the left has got Liriope, a hosta, and some more of the Euphorbia. So far the plants are much happier in the pots, and I'm much happier too - as they do a much better job of camouflaging the pipes behind.

Finally, here is sort of an accidental pot planting I ended up with. We had to move this chiminea off our patio to accomodate the basketball hoop, and it ended up in a corner of the garden. Since we can't actually burn anything in it where it is, I stuck a few tender fuschia pots in it earlier in the season, figuring they would be warmer in there, and now they seem to have settled in.

Kym your flowers are beautiful. Love your containers too, especially the little stove.
That reminds me, I have a pot full of painted ferns. Think I will put one in the pot by the greenshed.

Kymmco and Willowwind---Your pots are beautiful. I love the grouping near the pond, Kym. And Willow---what is that gorgeous tall purple plant in your first picture? Does it bloom? It's so pretty. Your courtyard is just delicious!! So yummy looking. Keep up the good planting, girls. And the photos.

Kymm, your pots look great! Patricia, yours, too, I didn't mean to leave you out, I just love your courtyard.

beebonnet that purple plant is called 'persian sheild' and is an annual. I think I will try to over-winter it inside. It doesn't look like it blooms but we will find out.

Persian Shield goes so well with orange . . .

I bought an orange million bells to put in there and then didn't. It was puppy crushed the other day.

I have 2 planters planted the same way............but they always grow differently. This one has Julie's Marigold at center stage.

This is the other

Those are sooo pretty.

Wow, you guys have some beautiful stuff going on! Makes my scrappy containers look... well... scrappy. Next year!

Nice grouping Azorina! Love the colors against the backdrop. I finally get to photo things you had a month ago. Delphs by the pond.
OOps I am not on the right thread. Pots Pots I must have some.

This message was edited Jul 13, 2010 7:33 PM

That is one beautiful picture. I am in love with Delphs and don't even have any.

Thanks! Love those Delphiniums!

Now that Julie's marigold is in full bloom I had to post it again, framed by "Crackerjack". (and a garden helper "Gizmo")

WOW! That is a container. Very nice!

Linda, your container is stunning! I am glad to see that my marigold did well for you. The d*&n slugs ate all of mine, so I am crossing my fingers that my seed is still viable next year. If you do happen to get a seed head, I would love you to save me a few "just in case"! I would hate to lose it.

Thank you. It is forming seed heads and I will be happy to save some for you