Hot Containers

I've done a border with all container plantings in the front yard for eight years now and it's developed over time to be all hot colors from reds, through oranges and yellow.... Orange used to be banned in my gardens but some of the best gardeners I know use it so well I decided to make space here. The container border allows me to try lots of new plants and rearrange things all the time to get the best visual impact. In the last two seasons I've tried to place the planting colors so they follow the color wheel... A challenge but lots of fun.

Recently finished getting the border containers planted for the season and can't wait for things to fill in.  It always amazes me just how much these tropicals grow in a season.

The newly assembled border for 2012

This container has a three year old Cuphea micropetala, abutilon, two types of lantana that stay in the pot and come in over winter. I add additional annuals when I bring it out for the season to fill it out. The cuphea is a hummingbird magnet as soon as it sets flowers...

Love this strongly colored bromeliad, Aechmea blanchetiana. (Bottom of image) I started collecting bromeliads because of this beauty. I just had to have it for the orange section of my border.

A couple other pots from the orange section of the border. I'm loving this Cuphea ignea variegata and have high hopes for this unusual orange coreopsis (plant on left).

And a couple of the red arrangements

The Pennisetum 'Purple Prince' is a fantastic grass and will get to be five feet tall or more by end of August. This pot also has a castor bean plant and Salvia elegans (Pineapple Salvia) These are all very large plants and will need all the room in that huge pot.

Not to rush the summer along but I'm looking forward to another few weeks when all these will fill in and eventually the fence is covered by the exhuberant growth.