All the houses in the neighborhood came with a brick mailbox and attached brick mailbox planter. Mine is south facing practically full sun until the sun is way west. I've tried several plants here; the only plants that did well were mexican heather, which dies around November and doesn't seem to come back. Are the plants getting cooked? Is it poor drainage? This year, I planted a plumbago about a month ago, which so far is doing OK with twice a week deep watering (plus the heavy rains we've had). Some of the bottom leaves wilted so I rubbed them off and pruned the spent blooms. Some of the other plants here have required up to 4X per week deep watering just to look alive. Is it the reflected heat from the mailbox and street that is challenging the plants? I suspect that the planters don't drain too well either. What would you recommend as a watering schedule? Should I drill some holes in the brick?
I really like perennials and would rather not transplant annuals every four months or so (seems to be the solution for others)
brick mailbox planter (cooking the plants?)
How large is the planter, and how deep? (Plumbago can get pretty big.) What color is the brick? Certainly heat from the pavement and the brick would make it a really hot spot, so you might want to go with plants that thrive in those conditions.
If you can get good drainage, you could probably do something like creeping lantana, bulbine, verbena, Blackfoot daisy, or...
C'mon others, I know ther are lots of other possibilities...
Angelita daisies are amazingly tough. They are about 4 " tall. The blackfoot daisies could cascade over the edge.
How about Salvia greggii, or Flame acanthus, both love the heat and ful sun.
The planter is basically a cube 3 feet long, 2.5 feet wide, 3 feet deep. The attached mail box is a brick arch about 5.5 feet high (its the west side of the planter). The brick matches the house-- pale adobe pink grey? You're right about the Plumbago getting big, I plan to keep it trimmed to just above the mail box. I've actually tried verbena here, but struggled to keep them healthy looking. I am troubled by the possibility of cooked dry soil on top and damp feet.
Six feet from the mail box, I have a south side walk facing bed. All the plants here have thrived (roses, indian hawthorne, dwarf crepe myrtle, dianthus, lavender, creeping phlox, mexican petunia, vinca comes back every summer from roots) I have used the same mulch, soil, and watering schedule for everything and am puzzled. I'll do some deep digging in the planter to further investigate. For now, should I just water the planter more frequently with less volume?
Well if it's not draining, that's going to be a problem for almost anything. I think you need to see if there is a cement bottom to this thing. If it's completely enclosed, the you have to provide drainage somehow. Even if you put a bunch of rock in the bottom, you're still going to have yukky water down there.
Sorry about the delay with the above response (connection issues while typing). I really like all the suggestions. My DW mentioned one time that she likes pink or blue flowers so, I've sort of maintained a blue/pink/white scheme with everything. Thanks again for everyone's help. I am going to battle with the Plumbago for now (hoping all the "loves heat and sun" that I've read about it is true). Looks like we'll go straight into summer again this year.
Will do some digging this week. If I run into the the dreaded enclosed brick scenario, I'll get a long brick drill bit and bore some holes. Maybe do combined pebbles with PVC through the brick (like with retaining walls)
Sounds like a lot of work, but you gotta do somethin.:)
Mary Lee
I figured out the issue. I dug into the mailbox planter and found that the bottom is poorly draining clay soil. Because I had just transplanted the plumbago from the nursery, I was watering it two to three times a week. I thought this would help ease the transplant process. I have now basically stopped watering the plant (maybe a light watering once every ten days if no rain). The plumbago is now thriving and full of beautiful blooms.
I guess, even with newly transplanted plumbago, there is no need to water regularly. This plant (even young ones) seem to thrive on dry full sun and neglect. The plant really thrived last week when it was in the 100s. I've noticed that it is sulking a bit during this nice, breezy overcast 70 degree weather.
I certainly recommend this plant for our hot, dry, sun-baked summers. Plant in some landscape mix/compost/ ammended soil, water every two weeks or so, deadhead the spent blooms and watch it thrive.