My little truck and tailer "topiaries".
why aren't flowers in containers a big part of this forum???
My biggest container. It's a pond form that I planted a bunch of "rescue me" plants from Lowe's last Fall. This is what I call my Butterfly Pond. :-)
Last photo tonight.
Janet
UniQueTreasures - love the containers and plants are beautiful. In Texas do the container plantings last year-round. In zone 5 they're gone after the first frost and we have to start again next year. My son-in-law tells me I'm throwing my $$$$ away but I told him it's my beer and it shut him up. I haven't tried perrennials in containers because they're kind of "ify" in zone 5. It's my enjoyment from May-October to plant, take care of, dead-head, water, and watch them grow and fill in the containers along with my perennial gardens. And it adds curb-appeal!!
G'Morning Grammy.
Since this is my first year to container garden, I'm not sure how they will do over the winter. The butterfly pond was planted in November and all of those plants came right back up this Spring. I didn't even cover it up, or do anything special to it. I've added the Love Lies Bleeding and a 6 pack of parsley and just water it regularly. The rest of the containers were just planted this year.
I put sphagnum moss on top of the soil in the majority of the containers. That seems to help hold moisture in and I'm hoping it will help to protect them this winter. We don't get but just a handful of really cold days here in Southeast Texas. Just enough that we can't ignore it (plantwise). The sphagnum really helped last year with a variety of plants. I bought a whole bale of it this year.
I usually clear off my deck of furniture and just start squeezing in plants whenever it starts getting cooler. Then I put plastic around the sides and leave the top open for God to water. I forget about everything until I know the chance of getting really cold again passes. I only lost one plant last year due to the cold. As least having them in mostly containers this year will allow me to move them to the deck.
I'm really enjoying the colorful leaves of the coleus. You're absolutely correct about the wonderful curb appeal.
Janet
I think Pirl is going to start a new thread titled Container Photos.....would everyone post their pictures there again and we can keep the thread going.....when it gets too long, she can move it so that dial up people won't have to wait so long...
Love that pot of coleus!!!
GG, especially for you
not potted flowers, but since you're craving flowers....
butterfly bush blooms and daisies, unknown cultivars. Isn't that sweet?
calla lily Picasso, my favorite. All these blooms are from one plant, and I have 3. I'm gonna have a mess of callas real soon, lol. I wonder if calla blooms will open some more or if I should have let them open some more in the plant, THEN cut.
Vossner, you are soooo nice to me!!!
Pirl started a thread of photos of container gardens.......so we can keep all these great combos in one place.....we don't want to miss any!!!!!
Unique Treasures, would you mind posting also on the new thread.......yours are fantastic!!!!
Thanks Gessie. I posted some of these on the new thread.
Janet
where's pirl's thread?
Here ya go Vossner.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/728081/ It's a great thread. Come join us there.
Janet
Just remember to identify your plants for the newbies who are taking notes!
I can't edit anymore for 24 hours - strange rule? Everything on Pirl's thread is now labeled. The ones that aren't labeled on this thread are also on Pirl's thread except for a photo of coleus and million bells. I will just repost them. This is a container of two different colors of million bells. Do not remember the names and did not get a plant label with them. One is a soild color and the other is a varigated - kind of a dark rose.
This is a container of coleus. The one that stands out in the front is "Fishnet Stockings" - Proven winners - and the rest I cannot tell the difference in the photo. I went through the isles in the nursery choosing colors that were different.
I should know these, grammypheob......I have all of them.....and love them, too!!!!
I don't have a picture of it but one of my favorite containers I did a couple of summers ago was about a 14" pot with a teepee formation I rigged together using twine and bamboo stakes. The teepee was 3 legged with one rung level about halfway up from the bottom and stood about 1 1/2 to 2 feet tall. I sunk it in the pot and planted Black Eyed Susan Vine in the center and the short bush type Nastutiums around the edges of the pot. The vine was guided up and around the teepee and the Nasturtiums filled in and spilled over the sides a bit. I let the Nast. and BES set seed so I could collect but the spent flowers can be pinched off.
I'm thinking of making a larger container using some golden/orange cosmos seed I collected last summer (plant was 1 1/2-2 feet tall) and plant some multicolored red/yellow/orange lantana around it's feet once the cosmos get some height on them. I planted them late at the end of June last summer and they did great.
dmac085 - it sounds beautiful. Come on over to Pirl's container gardens page 2. That's where we are hanging out now and posting photos. See you there. Eleanor