I love to mix a variety of plants for containers but find most of the "spillers" unsuitable for a our heat. I have tried the various dichondra with no success. Last year after reading all about licorice vine, I tracked some down and watched it sizzle to dead in this heat. The ivys will work as will the asian jasmine but they are ho hum.
Looking for some different ideas, any shade of green will do...
"Spiller" ideas for the hot southern containers please?
I've had good luck with the trailing fig both the green and the varigated. Vincas trail well for a while then get out of hand for me. For a large container in the shade pothos works well. Also, I have a small grass, Carex Evergold, that mixes with almost everything and drapes nicely over the side of containers. For the full sun containers consider some of the creeping sedums; there are many, many varieties and they come in different colors. Have fun.
Thanks Ardesia ~ Pothos is a good idea and I can get some from my SIL. I hadn't thought of that. I will also look for the trailing fig. I too was amazed at how well the vinca took to the pot culture. It required large quantities of water so I stuck it in ground.
I also am thinking I might try a creeping thyme.
The sedums would be interesting and I didn't really think of them in anything but succulent plantings. Thanks for the ideas... pod
There are lots of 'house plants' that make great summer trailers, coleus too. I don't have a photo of it in a container, but, Tradescantia grows fast in the heat, prefers shade tho>
Sweet potatoe vine or callibrachoa (million bells) will trail, kind of over used around here.
Sweet potato vine has a lovely chartreuese or purple color too. I have Setcreasea purple heart and pallida. They are too big for what I want and do grow large in summer. I do have a baby jew tho that will trail. Might try that one also. Thx Dale_a_G
Do any of you fertilize your plants, and what do you use?
I only use a water soluble fert mixed in reduced measure with the regular watering. Usually Peters or MG.
In the severe heat, I won't fertilize as that seems to overstress the plants.
maybe this is old news to y'all on this web but i bought a pointsetta and it was a pot within a bigger pot--the space between the pots was filled with dirt and a light airy plant (but could use a hanging vine too)--i thought it was really pretty and clever too --or is that what you mean by spiller?
Hi ~ yes, the vine would be a "spiller"... what kind of plant was put around your Poinsettia?
i don't know--i asked the sales person but he didn't know--doesn't hang down but is ligt and pretty--i liiked the pot within a pot idea and thought i would like to give it a try--someone mentioned that it is good for the plant too--helps it from drying out i guess--sort of insulates it--
It is a good idea. I did that with a small evergreen tree and in the surrounding pot I planted pansies for color. It was pretty too
oh that sounds beautiful!! and now that i bought a small evergreen tree (after holiday bargain) i want to copy the idea!!! thanks--never would have thought of it myself!!
Me neither ~ I saw it first in an old Southern Living magazine. 8 )
our library sells old magazines for 10 cents-- i need to go and get some! southern living is such a fun one!! i get a lot of magazines but no gardening ones--
For years, they put all the gardening articles for one year in book form. Called a Southern Living Garden Annual dated by the year of the magazine articles. I love them. I think they quit doing them in 2005 but they are great. I was saving too many magazines and here all the good articles are in one magazine sized book. Your library may have these just to check out? Maybe other good gardening books too?
I am watching Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl but would love to join in this discussion as I love anything that trails in a big pot! Join you all tomorrow......
This is a pic of an ivy I started some time ago. It has done pretty well in that corner of my porch. So well that it is growing "air roots"(?) that are attaching themselves to the walls for support. This pic was taken early in the spring. I will need to take another cuz it's grown so much more. I decided to leave it out on the porch this winter (last year it deteriorate
so much after moving it indoors) I got the idea to leave it out after seeing a similar ivy at the entrance to a drug store. It too attached itself to the walls but the leaves were huge. I figured I would do the same. It's not spilling over but rather spilling up.
