I'm of the school who likes to cram as many plants in a pot as I can fit then edit or not as required throughout the season. Of course, this takes a lot of watering and feeding to keep things looking good. I also spend some time once a week 'sculpting' the plants in the containers. If there is an aggressive grower it gets pruned back to make room for it's less enthusiastic partners. If something is just not doing well because it's crowded out or generally unhappy I'll remove it altogether.
Here is one of my cement urns in the back gardens when it was newly potted up for the season. This image was taken on June 10th. The plants in the arrangement are Fuchsia 'Beacon' and 'Winston Churchill', Coleus 'Aurora Black Cherry' 'The Flume' (I can't find the tag for the chartreuse one) Iresine, Begonia 'Anna Feile', Ipomoea 'Sweet Caroline Bronze', Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost' and Hibiscus 'Maple Sugar'.
June 10
June 16
June 27
July 22
August 6
September 2
During July this year we had a major heat wave with weeks above the 90 degree mark and many of the annuals especially the fuchsias decided to sulk. I'm surprised the image from July 22 shows as much blooming on the fuchsias as it does. By August the entire container was a bit overgrown and I gave it a major 'haircut' including pruning off one of the Sweet Potato Vines. I've continuously pinched out the Hibiscus, probably once a week or so to keep it at a reasonable height, Without the frequent pruning it would be seven feet tall by now. I kept hoping the Begonia would get taller than the Iresine. Well it never happened and it never bloomed either so next year, if I repeat this arrangement, I'll plant the begonia in front of the Bloodleaf so it can get a bit more light. The Fuchsia 'Winston Churchill' is taking a break from blooming but is currently setting a lot of buds. I normally get a great flush of fuchsia flowers just before the frost hits.
I normally water once a day as soon as the container has filled out and liquid feed according to manufacturers directions once a week.
Love that Iresine! Bummer about the Begonia. That sweet potato vine really went to town. Too bad it hides so much of that gorgeous urn.
ReplyDeleteThat is so stunning. Those wonderful mixed containers (that are not succulents) just don't do so well here--too dry? Too constantly blaring beating-down bright? Or do the plants just know they need to hurry, before a frost hits?
ReplyDeleteGorgeous container too. And the colors all working perfectly together.
(by "here" I mean my climate)
DeleteThanks so much! I can imagine growing anything but succulents in your climate would be one heck of a challenge
DeletePhotographing this urn throughout the season is a great idea. The thought, evaluation, and planning that you do are evident in how absolutely gorgeous your garden looks. Thanks for this urn progression post!
ReplyDeletethanks Peter
DeleteYour mixed container is gorgeous Deanne. Cramming many plants in create instant drama and maintaining it is rather enjoyable too.
ReplyDeleteI hope this progression post becomes a regular feature. I'm surprised that the Diamond Frost euphorb disappeared too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Denise, I've got a few others I thought I'd share. I was surprised at the disappearing Diamond Frost also. It usually infiltrates the entire arrangement and pops out all over the place.
DeleteThat's a wonderful composition and I appreciate the opportunity to see how it progressed over the summer months. I was surprised to see how big the Irisine got. I admit to being terribly neglectful of my pots (which is why so many of mine are filled with succulents that appreciate benign neglect). However, after viewing the spectacular results of your efforts, I'm curious to see how much better I can do by providing more routine attention.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kris, they really do respond well to a little TLC. They really need their weekly feeding or they start looking a bit raggedy and pale
DeleteGreat idea Deanne! Our containers took a beating over the weekend with hail and torrential rain, for a second time this season. Still working at cleaning them up :(
ReplyDeleteI love your idea of keeping track through photos of how the container plantings are doing.
So sorry about the hail damage. That's just dreadful. We're lucky we didn't have any hail storms this summer although my sister did in her garden ten miles from here
DeleteWhat a pretty combination!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm a crammer too but you are much more organized about your plantings than I am. Love the sequence of photos of the urn! Those sweet potato vines want to take over the world. My daughter (in a hotter climate than mine) pulled hers out one fall only to find there were potatoes at the roots!
ReplyDeleteOh that is certainly a winning combination. We had the same hot weather. It seems to be back today.
ReplyDeleteThanks Layanee! Can you even believe this weather? we got up to 97 degrees today. Incredible!
DeleteYou put so much love into your containers Deanne and it really shows. I was wondering about the hibiscus. I stopped putting them in containers since they got so big. I now plant mine in the ground and they get shrub sized.
ReplyDelete