I know what you mean about Big Ceramic Pots. Then add soil and big plants and it is too much. I had a 22 or 24 inch ceramic pot with a white bird of paradise. After moving this plant in and out for a few years and never really looking all that good, I let it out over winter a few years ago. Good riddance. Why they sell these at Home Depot as indoor plants is beyond me.
Hey Kill, that dark leaf cane (or shrub) is Lynda Dawn. Looks great in summer but starting in late August it came down with the worst case of mildew I ever saw. Mallet begonias are notorious for getting mildew when the nights start getting cooler. It must have something to do with their Philippine heritage.
Here is my big Sinbad five years ago. It is another Mallet type but it makes a great summer container plant.
hc, we posted about the same time. You might not have seen my last post.
hc, I know I probably go overboard sometimes but that Sinbad is absolutely spectacular!
Here's mine. Only had it for a few weeks now. I hope I can grow mine that well.
Move it to a bigger pot, give it a good drink to begin with, move it to the edge of a tree's canopy to where it gets some sun (late afternoon or morning) and it should do fine. Just be prepared for mildew when the nights get cool. When it sets in, you might lose it or consider treating it as an annual.
Here is another I had two years later. I didn't prune the bad leaves off like I should've. I can usually find a gallon pot at Pike's for around $5 each year so treating it as an annual is no big loss.
That is still beautiful. I am pretty successful at overwintering most of my begonias. I hope I can overwinter Sinbad. I love it!
Start spraying for fungus when it starts to cool off. You might do okay.
hc, I always worry about putting a small begonia in too large a pot. Shouldn't they be really well-rooted, short of being rootbound, before they are moved up?
Maybe that's a mistake I'm making with some of mine?
As a general rule you are right. That is a rule of safety. But rules are meant to be broken. If the plant you have has a tendency to grow large in a single growing season why bother going through stages when you can leapfrog 3 or more potting sizes. Sinbad is one that can fill a pot in a season. Of course at the end of the season you may want to lift it out of a big pot, trim it down to size, maybe root prune so it is better managed indoors due to limited space. My Bonfire this year was moved from a six inch pot to an 18 inch pot and the branches are hanging over the sides and touching the ground. In the past I obeyed the rule but never had this size in such a short amount of time. I could go on with other examples - my mother has put some of the begonias I gave her into much bigger pots and I was amazed at how much bigger and healthier they looked than my mother plants that I used to get her started. My best example is my first visit to Miami and PHOE (Palm Hammock Orchid Estates) I bought a few begonias. Two were Caribbean King and C. Queen. I got them in gallon sized pots and put them into 18 inch pots (didn't know about silly potting up rules). In one season they were monsters (pictures to follow). Now the reverse is true too. I left them out to early November and got a hard frost - all the leaves were damaged but the rhizomes looked good. I moved them into the garage with pretty cool air and dim light. The rhizomes lost some size but the next year they did pretty good but not like the first year. I repeated it the second winter and the rhizomes got even smaller. Finally the third year I potted down and kept them in a much warmer basement under lights. One more year to gain some more size and this summer they are about the size (in leaf) to my first year.
Lesson learned - pot up to a big pot if you want a bit plant. Do not use garden fertilizer on young plants. Do not over water young plants. Finally pot down if the plant is decreasing rather than increasing.
Here were my C. King and Queen back in '05 after one full growing season. These are 18 inch pots.
Well I was hoping to find both together but it looks like it will be one at a time.
The King wasn't as big as the Queen but still pretty good sized.
And the Queen.
Beautiful. Thanks for the info. Also, what is that green shrub to the far right in the second photo?
Some kind of Juniper or Chamaecyparis.
hehe. Not a conifer fanatic, huh? It's pretty. I'd like to know what it is exactly.
Good background plants.
Like this thread! I enjoy the foliage color, shape and pattern more than flower, it is just more soothing and relaxing.
Lol...this thread cracks me up...someone that has never been to my garden was sitting looking around and said, "Wow you really have a lot going on here." I'm not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing....ha ha.
Here is my shot of an old wheelbarrow I fill with every little seedling I find and then some find their own way to it.
LOL...that's just what I need. A wheelbarrow. Perfect for putting all the seeming hundreds of plants on my back porch that I can't get around to potting up. I would probably need a about 10 of them.
Great idea. I'm hopeing for more sun today so I can photo containers.
Sun's not up yet.
Still no sun enough to take good photos. I dont like to pix flowers in full sun but need more light that we have on this cloudy day.
some planters
2
from the deck collection
bunch at the end
High hopes for this,caladiums arent showing in this cool weather
These might be the best ever in the front porch
Glads are in bloom, I heard they will die off 6 weeks after flowering. Can I please have some suggestions on what to plant for the rest of the summer after I dig out the bulbs?
I was downloading some pictures from my camera to the computer and thought about this thread when I saw this picture...
waa da ya mean.It looks just right.
Not too many.
sunkissed, that's a nice collection. I'm sure you could find room for a few more. :-)
Front porch containers
These are sweet with lobelias
White lobelia
torenias
SIL and DD powerwashed the deck and DD re arranged the planters. I like the new look.Photo when the sun comes up.
3 ft of 130 ft of containers... on the roof..
clockwise from 11 o'clock
morning glory...ivy.. patriot hosta.. new guinea impatients..pansey
I always like seeing your rooftop garden.
Here are some of my deck containers
The plants have only been in since late May,maybe 2 weeks.July is the really best time for them
https://picasaweb.google.com/jgentle4/PlantersJune13
