Container Crunch Time

Designing containers is one of my favorite garden activities.  Containers are the backbone of many of my garden areas and they are what carries the interest well into the fall.  Although it's not polite to count, I probably have about 80 containers of varying sizes located throughout the garden.  More would be nice but 80 seems to be a number I can comfortably maintain and still enjoy a life beyond gardening.  Well...sorta, kinda.

Plants in containers spruce up my side entryway in 2012

Containers definitely add a layer of complexity to the spring and fall workload.  One of the most time consuming tasks for me is sourcing and shopping for the plants.  Unfortunately there is no one stop shop in my area for annuals, tropicals and tender perennials.  For the past couple of weeks I have been bringing them home a tray here and there as I visit various nurseries.  By now "inventory" is piling up and the shopping season is still in full swing.

Part of my container plant staging area

Despite my shortcomings with house plants, I do manage to winter over a few things under lights, in a sunny window or dormant in the basement.  Success in this department always brings me great joy.  Not only do I save a bit of cash, I'm rewarded with a sense of accomplishment and two year old plants that make nice specimens.

A few of my overwintering successes-Brugmansia, Colocasia, Breynia, Geraniums, Abutilon (not the basil)



Before any planting can happen, the containers that don't get left outside all year need to be moved out of winter storage from my garage and shed.  Since many of them are too large for me to handle alone, I modified the strap on an appliance dolly.  No more crushed fingers and sore backs-at least not from moving containers.

Once the pots are in place, they need to be cleaned out.  Contrary to what you may have read, potting soil can be reused.  I remove all the prior year debris, loosen up what's left with a three pronged digger then sift through with my fingers.  Then I add new potting mix as necessary.

In over ten years of fairly extensive container gardening I've never experienced any problems with disease or pests when reusing soil in my containers.  As it is, I go though 10-15 cubic feet of potting soil every season.  Even though I fill the bottom quarter or third of all my large pots with crushed plastic water bottles, replacing all the soil every year would make what is already an expensive endeavor even more so.

Next comes the fun part-design.  After the pots are in place I look at the orientation.  My garden runs from south to north so for the most part, I have to site taller plants towards the north side of the pot unless I am trying to deliberately create some shade.  Sometimes decisions need to be made.  For instance, in this pot I plan to use Pennisetum 'Vertigo' as the focal point.  'Vertigo' will get quite tall and will shade out companion plants depending on how I orient it in the pot.

In a situation like this where the primary view can be from a number of locations, I have to decide which one to choose.  From this angle where I'm viewing from northeast to southwest the grass would need to be on the southwest side and companion plants will have to be of a variety that does well in part shade.

From this angle, the view would be from south to north so the grass would be fine where it's planted now.  But in order to effectively see the lower companions, I would have to make sure only low growers are planted in the garden around it.

By now even Nick is thinking I should just plant it already  Agonizing over where and what to plant- it's what I do.

When choosing plant combinations for my container designs, I more or less follow the "thrillers, fillers and spillers" design concept as outlined in the article by Steve Silk for Fine Gardening magazine a number of years ago.  Once the pots are in place and I've agonized sufficiently over orientation, it's time to choose the "thrillers".

For the most part I create all new combinations every year but in a few pots like this container in front of my breakfast room window, although the companion plants change, I always use a Colocasia 'Illustris' for a thriller.

By the time I realized I rotted my overwintered Ensete ventricosum 'Maurelii' last year I was unable to find another one.  Until recently I wasn't having any luck this year either.  Then on Sunday I took a ride to Walker Farm and scored this nice size plant.

Ensetes are relatively easy to overwinter dormant in a cool, dark corner of your basement.  Usually I can get away with it for at least one winter before the plant becomes too large for me to wrestle indoors.

Before actually planting anything, I stage the plants and continue to sub various choices in and out until I find combination that pleases me.  In general I use one third flowering plants to two thirds foliage.  Occasionally I leave the plants staged for a day or two before making the final decision so I don't miss any opportunities to agonize over anything.  Just for the record, I did end up planting this exactly as seen here.

Last year I was not happy at all with the way this pot turned out.  I planted it towards the end when I didn't have much left in the way of plants and it never came together.  Since it's the largest container on the patio, I'm not going to make that mistake again.  A large Acalpha I found at Howard's is the inspiration and makes a fine thriller.  Although it's still staged, I may permanently place the plants tonight.

Over the next week or so I hope to be able to get most of the containers designed and planted.  I've yet to haunt two of my favorite nurseries for unusual annuals, The Farmer's Daughter in South Kingstown, RI and Oliver's Nursery in Fairfield, CT.  Farmer's Daughter is on the calendar for this coming weekend.  Since that also means lunch at Matunuck Oyster Bar I am beyond ecstatic.

So tell me, do you use containers in your garden?  What are some of your favorite plants to grow in them?

Sue~

Fall Cleanup Begins

Here in central CT we were gifted with absolutely perfect fall weather this weekend.  After spending the previous week wallowing in self pity over losing the majority of my garden to an early frost, I built a bridge, got over it and was ready to get down to business and let the fall cleanup begin.  You know what "they" say-"make hay while the sun shines".  Good advice.  Who knows what the weather will be like for the upcoming weekends or what alternative activities may develop to distract me?




My garden helper, the Twerpinator agrees.

Leaf removal is a huge part of fall cleanup here.  Sometimes the weekends don't cooperate and I have to take days off from work to get it done.  A couple of years ago three of my neighbors banded together and removed many old trees but the neighborhood is still well shaded. Fortunately the town collects leaves at the curb and I take full advantage. For some reason though, the first pickup this year isn't until the week of November 12th so for now leaves are on the back burner.

Compost manufacturing has never been a strength.  Usually I toss the majority of fall garden waste in with the curb leaves and let the town do the work.  With the extra time this year I decided to chop up most of my container garden waste, add a few bucket loads of pine needles from the driveway, and toss in the bags of grass clippings and leaves from the final mowing of the rear lawns.  Here's what I've got so far,  With any luck, in my one compost bin I may be able to fit about 1% of my leaves and additional garden waste.

So with leaf pressure off, I decided to focus on cleaning and storing my containers.  Usuallly I clean out the plants after they get frosted (anywhere from late October through mid November) then run around like a nut in December hauling all the pottery to the garage or shed before winter sets in.  Not this year.  At the close of business Sunday night, I had 95% of my pots cleaned out and tucked away in the garage.  In all my years of gardening I have never been so far along with fall pot cleanup.  Not ever!

One of my biggest challenges used to be moving heavy pots around the garden.  A few years ago I modified the strap on an appliance dolly so I could use it to grip pots just long enough to get them tipped back and balanced on the rails.  With the exception of a couple of odd balls, I can now move everything I need to move by myself.

Much to the cat's dismay, carnage corner in the garage is now cleaned up and ready for pot storage.

My new favorite toy.  Argh, argh, argh!

A few odds and ends waiting to be prepared to spend winter somewhere in the house.

My succulent collection all cleaned up and ready to be moved into the house.  I'm still thinking I should send them all to live with Denise.

Semi annual car washing was also on the agenda.  I like a clean car, really I do, but I don't often have one.  Maybe next spring I'll get to the inside.  Or in the spirit of election year job creation maybe I'll just pay somebody else to do it.

By the end of the weekend things were looking up for the garden.  Not so much for me.  Normally I wouldn't classify myself as a klutz but somehow I managed to slice a finger open with pruning shears, twist and bruise my wrist in a closing gate, and take multiple slams to the shins and an ankle from various weapons of garden destruction.  Be careful out there!

As much as I like a tidy garden, I don't relish fall cleanup.  So is gardening in colder zones.  After spending months and months creating and nurturing it all, in just the equivalent of a couple of weeks you tear everything down and throw it away.

No one will be clamoring to enjoy a glass of wine on these chairs for a while.

Where did everything go?

The "rear lawn" mowed for what will probably be the last time this season.

The back lawn freshly mowed for what may be the last time.



Despite the early progress, I still have much to do.  Cannas and dahlias have to be dug, dried and stored.  Plants need to be moved and new acquisitions planted.  Next weekend I'll start cutting back the perennials and moving leaves to the curb.  One thing I won't be doing though is moving pots because I'm DONE, DONE, DONE with that nonsense!  Come December I'll be sipping wine under twinkling lights while toasting that early frost.

East garden-yikes!

Sunday dinner-a reward for all the hard work.

Happy Fall!

Sue~

The Patio is Open For the Season

How to spoil a good shot.  Unless the bottle is wine.

Yes I do windows.  Every one of those sixty little panes of glass.  And that was just the outside.

Cheers!  Today I laughed in the face of 90 plus degree heat to get my patio open and ready for the season.  Sweeping, mulching, cleaning...it all had to be done,  In the spirit of full disclosure I did hop into an air conditioned SUV in search of plants for a couple of hours right after lunch.  Yes it was hot, but I've worked in worse.  At least the humidity was reasonable.  Tomorrow the plan is to get up early and start rolling out mulch, clean the fountains and hopefully get back to work on the front yard grass restoration project.  Once again I'll be battling temperatures somewhere north of 90 but if I can power through it, maintenance mode isn't far behind.

Native corn is officially in season and my goal is to eat as much of it as I can between now and September.  What better way to end a summer day?

I Went To A Garden Party...

On Sunday I trekked up to Nashua, NH for the first of what will no doubt be many garden parties this season at my friend Deanne's garden.  A visit to her home and garden is always a treat and without exception always involves swoon worthy food.  Deanne is one of a group of people I fondly refer to as my axe murderer and serial killer friends.  It was through an off topic forum on the Gardenweb Forums where I became a part of this group over ten years ago.  Gardens brought us together and have kept us together.  Many long term friendships have been forged from connections made through this group.

Geographically we are scattered throughout the US and Canada.  Once a year we schedule a long weekend (although the past few years it's been turning into a week) in a garden rich location and attempt to get as many of us together as possible.  Next month we will be gathering for the ninth straight year...hard to believe...

But enough of the sentimental drivel.  On to the garden and the food!  A frozen margarita was the perfect accompaniment to home made guacamole and shrimp cocktail (provided by the CT contingent) and a selection of stuffed olives and grape leaves (not pictured).

For the main course we dined on a scrumptious surf and surf meal-a combo of teriyaki marinated grilled salmon and scallop skewers-accompanied by fresh asparagus, and a green and pasta salad.

Monique outdid herself with dessert.  We decided the chocolate pot de creme topped with freshly whipped cream and served with a side of native strawberries soaked in Cointreau was the best dessert she has ever created...until whatever she creates next...

Be careful not to give up your seat at the table or these con artists will move right in.

In addition to creating fabulous garden spaces, Deanne is also a master photographer and posts hundreds of pictures of her garden on various forums throughout the season.  Since I'm a point and shoot hack, my goal in highlighting her garden is obviously not to try and compete with her photography but to find what I consider to be areas of her garden she doesn't often photograph herself.

Deanne was the first to acquire garden fish from Tyson Weiss.  A picture of this vignette is actually featured on the home page of his website.

Deanne is also an artist and professional decorative painter.  Art, much of it her creation, is displayed prominently throughout the garden.

One of Deanne's container borders.  She designs, plants and maintains over three hundred containers.

What can I say?  Occasionally Deanne opens her garden for various garden clubs and the Garden Conservancy but like most gardeners, she would welcome a visit from a fellow garden enthusiast any time.  Too far away to visit in person?  No problem-recently Deanne started blogging.  Check it out!