about this time of the year in this ole texas heat my containers start looking .....
well, BAD.....i only buy a few annuals a year and that is petunias, begonias, impatiens.....i buy flats of those...and hate to buy more of them because they will die at the end of the season.....i supplement by growing 300 to 500 coleus cuttings and plant caladiums(that is a whole nother story...i dig them back up so i can keep them for next year and half of them don't make it thru the winter).....all for all my containers ...there are ALOT of containers....; so what do you do when you containers start looking awful due to the heat, time, insects, slugs etc......; i don't want to invest more money in annuals....and i also don't want to plant perennials in containers cause i will have to dig them up to plant them somewhere in the ground b4 winter.....any ideas for me??
Tired Sad Old looking containers and how to perk um up?
By mid July I have to cut everything including annuals, perennials, really anything that blooms back really hard. There are a few lean weeks but then they are all back with a flourish.
I'm kind of stuck here because you don't want annuals and you don't want perennials. I'm not sure what's left . . .
Artificial/silk flowers? I have 2 big pots out front. I always put coleus and begonias in them. They are ALWAYS lush a pretty.... well, until this year. I don't know what happened, but they never got big and filled out. I'm going to plunk in some mums, 2 or 3 to each pot. I don't really like mums in the ground, they always die or are puny. I do think they are pretty and add some color for my fall decorations.... so I'll perk them up in a couple weeks (when I see them being mass delivered at the box stores). About this time of year, I always mix up some Super Thrive (vitamins for plants) that seems to give them a bit of renewal, they perk back up for the late summer/fall season.
gardener....hmmmm i didn't think about limiting someone...but i guess i did...so what would you do?? (grin) i am getting desperate...
auntb...you know...that is what the problem is with me...i have millions of coleus planted.....those seemed to be the planters that are not looking so good....; i have to say that this time of the year they always start limping along....; i do have the begonia thing going too in some.....they seem to be doing good....i also have alternanthera mixed in with the coleus...it is going gang busters but not enuf to cover the coleus non performers....; i also have spv with the combos and it is doing great...the coleus seems to be the problem
i am about to add ferilizer as it sometimes helps....(cant hurt right?)
my petunia baskets are looking awful...but i am cutting back which i hate...but anything to make my stuff look purdy:)
I sprinkled in a bit of fertilizer earlier, too. Didn't seem to help at all. The begonias, though thin and gangly, bloomed and seemed to grow some, but the coleus just sat there. I snipped the tips, thinking it would initiate some kind of growth. They were the expensive kind, too. Darn it. I get caliobroca (Million Bells) instead of petunias. The blooms aren't as big, but no deadheading. I still snip them back the end of June, but not as much maintenance. I'm not as young or agile as I used to be so I'm kind of liking low-maintenance.
having just turned 52 and my body falling apart....i SO believe you about being young and agile....; my knees, feet, hurt so bad...and arthritis , lupus , cfs...etc etc....so i do understand....
as for caliobroca (Million Bells)...do they smell good? the thing that i love about petunias is their smell....i usually buy about 4 flats of them....just so that i have the smell; they are a pain in the butt....but i will suffer (grin) thru so i can have the smell....
one annual i found this year that i love....is fan flower or scaevola....OMG it takes the sun sun sun and just looks gorgeous.....will buy a lot more next year....
Sticks - are you fertilizing the containers? I found that just osmacote
alone was not enough so I water with a weak solution of fertilizer almost
every time I water. I don't have Texas heat but we get heat & this seems
to really help keeping things going all summer.
Tam
whats the difference between osmocote and fertilizer....; i know i am not doing both....but am doing i think fertilizer...
osmocote is time-release. I feed mine 1/2 strength 20-20-20 about 2 or 3 times a season. I liked the scaevola too, very drought tolerant too. They have the "blue" and white, the are great for containers, wonder why I didn't use some this year... (probably cause I suffer bouts of CRS. The million bells do not smell :( I'll be 52 in a couple weeks.... arthritis in my knees and the crs... I try to stay active, but I can't dig or carry big pots, bummer. I do have help from a neighbor friend and if my kids are around, but sometimes I like to do things like that myself. Someday I probably won't be able to have as many plants as I want, but it's not this year! I am trying to plant low-maintenance perennials like hosta in the yard. I can weed pretty clean with a sprayer (small) of heavy strength round-up!
auntb did the hurting in the body start about 2 yrs ago....it was like one day i was good and all of a sudden i was like an old lady....which of course i am NOT.....but my body is just a goner....dont even get me started....; i used to hate old ladies like me...and now i am one...and NOONE warned me that it was hell on earth aging...NOONE!!!!
(straighting myself back up) shaking off the dust and angst.....did you know there are pink scavola also....heck i would just love to find ANY much less pink....;
we can do this age thing....i know we can....
i can still carry heavy stuff...even tho i am not suppossed to ....arm is broken in 3 places and isn't grown back...only fibrous tissue holding it together....will be having surgery soon...eeeeeeeeeee am i hijacking my own thread.....sue me...; ok so i use granule fertilizer....so i guess i need superthrive?
so why cant you dig or carry stuff?
I didn't get back online last night, son "needed" the computer. He's my baby and is off to K-state in a couple weeks.
I can't dig or carry too much weight because of the pressure it puts on my knee joints. I do carry heavy stuff, but I notice it later with pain and swelling.
The superthrive is in addition to the 20-20-20...
Noone told me either Sticks, it just ain't fair! I've ALWAYS been a go-getter. Now I remind myself of my Great Aunts' when I was kid. They'd be complaining of this or that pain and hobbling around - good lord, now that's me! We AREN'T old Sticks, 50 IS the new 30! That's what someone told me so it must be true and I like it. Okay, I've been dying my hair for over 10 years, have 2 pair of glasses (but NO pearl necklace around my neck to hang them on)- that would mean I'm old!
aunt...i so know the new 30....; but it seemed to happen so fast...no warning ; one day i was half way young and the next OLD; i have a store and the 20 yr olds say maam to me.....eeeeekkkk; the knees...omg the knees....i remember in my 40's i would sit on my leg in my office....older folks said....no no no no no...you shouldn't do that...it is going to kill your knees....; i have about given up on the looks but the garden NO WAY; i will not give that up....; i decided that even if i was in a wheel chair i will still drive all over my yard and garden.....lets hope to god i can:)
"Tired Sad Old looking containers and how to perk um up?"
ROTFLOL I just realized the irony of the title of this thread and the last several posts! I am a "tired old container also" (we are containers for the soul...) with arthritis and weight problems...
yq...you are SO right; we are tired old sad looking containers guaranteed to make our dang yards look GREAT@@@@!!!!!
I recently saw two members of my church (one is almost 89, the other probably in her mid-seventies). The oldest had fallen that morning and broken her wrist and was upset with herself. She said, "Getting old ain't for sissies." The 'younger' one said her favorite saying is "Old age is 15 years older than I am!" So that's my new story and I'm sticking to it!!! I'm am lucky with my good health, but certainly find that I tire way more easily than I used to (I'm almost 63 - older than you two, Sticks & Aunt B!!). I've colored my hair for a long time and would probably be completely gray if I let it go. And not a gorgeous silvery gray like some lucky folks!
One time a number of years ago I went on a garden tour in Seattle and one of the gardens was maintained almost exclusively by a man who had to pull himself along on a dolly - he basically couldn't walk anymore, but wouldn't give up his gardens for anything. And they were lovely. Such inspiration!
Yardqueen! How smart you are! Sticks and I kinda got off subject...My "container" does need some perking up! How funny! These old pudgy knees started bothering me in spring 06 .... I had bought a different vehicle and I drive 45 min to and from work.... the seat was not comfortable to my knees, I'd climb out in the evening and I could barely walk.... I've since bought a 2000 caddy with the electronic seats and with help of a "wedge" cushion, I can drive pretty comfortably (I'm 5 ft tall so, I'll be one of those classic old ladies looking THROUGH the steering wheel (lol just thinking about it)..... took a road trip with my daughter to KY to see Brians Botanicals this spring... did pretty good.
It WAS like it happened over night.... I've since lost some weight and that has helped, but if I do too much, I'm in pain. I try to remain active, and I too plan on having a garden of some type even when I am in a wheel chair. That's right, we're mature, strong (maybe just bull-headed) women, we might be slow and look like we need "perked up", but the mind is still sending and receiving.
Of course, when I was younger, IF I hadn't made fun of my mother's cracking knees and her taking one step at a time, THIS NEVER would have happened to me! Mother's revenge..... she's over 75 now and I think she gets around better than me! Still push mows her yard and has her flowers. Cooks, cleans, does laundry and helps her older sister a few miles away.
That's what I say about my mom!!!! She is 78 and also has a bad knee. And I always say she can run circles around me! I am about 150 lbs overweight and have 2 bad knees. Mother is not overweight. It makes all the difference. My container has lots of padding!
Murmur, I love your story! I thought about letting my hair color go, but it's not a pretty gray, silver or white. More like murky old dish water.... (probably matches my sad old container better) - HA! I'm not too overweight, just the middle-aged spread, I guess but I noticed the knees are better, I probably only lost 15 lbs. Anyway, it's just not very nice to raise 3 kids, work full time, get to 52, and this is what we get???? Gray hair, bad eyesight, droopy boobs, ingrown toenails, swollen achy knees; basically, containers that need perked up?! It could be MUCH worse for us. I'll just be a grateful exhausted shabby container, smile and count my blessings. ( and complain a little from time to time!)
well all i just chugged the full bottle of superthrive.....that ought to help!!!!
(grin)
i don't have to color my hair (thank god)....just get it 'lightened' blonde to match my brain that works like a 'dumb' blonde....if i had my hair its real color is has gotten darker every year....very dark brown and i have very light skin except when i am in the yard and i start to brown up a tad.....but the dark brown hair is just too harsh against the wrinkles....so i 'highight'....(he he)
anyway, i bought the superthrive will add it to everything tomorrow....i also bought a 'sun' gardenia......that REALLY made me feel better.....
now i have another plant crossed off my list....with only a million more on my list to buy!!!!
yall are a hoooootttt....
Yahooey - Super Thrive .. . I never thought of drinking it myself! With my luck, it would just make me "grow" (outwards!). All kidding aside, though, I am incredibly lucky with my good health - just mild osteoporosis, high cholesterol, broken down feet, eyesight not what it used to be, hearing getting worse by the day (huh? what'd you say?), etc. But nothing that can't be taken care of one way or another.
I do need my beauty sleep, though, so I'll check some other threads, then head for bed! Nitey nite all!