Sunday, July 15, 2012

French Urn Container Planting begins to Make Me Happy

This container is full of nasturtiums that I grew from seed and planted not knowing what the color would be.  It turned out that the golden yellow is just the right color (there could still be other colors as I just randomly stuck seeds in)



 Purple Shield,  and Purple Heart (unknowlingly overwintered from last  year), are three of the plants taking top honors right now in the urns flanking my garage.


 I had hoped there would be at least three yellow calla lilies, but so far only two and one is about finished.
I love how the Purple Heart grew down the front like that with the Creeping Jenny behind.   I wish the Purple Shield behind it was at least a foot taller.  Maybe it will take off soon.  I am not sure what dahlia I planted in this urn. I will know soon as buds are forming.  It's fun watching these urns change almost weekly as new flowers bloom.

I still can't believe it looked like this in mid-May:

In case you are wondering, I moved that grass over to the side. You can see a bit of it in the first picture.  It is still quite small, but I am expecting it to grow a lot bigger. I remember thinking that the tiny little piece of Creeping Jenny was probably not enough. I can't believe how it filled out so quickly.

Friday morning I was admiring how the sun highlighted these striped canna leaves and calla lilies on the deck:

Also on the deck, my second whiskey barrel of coneflowers has begun to bloom. This is the more common purple echinacea and is on the opposite side of the stairs from 'Hot Papaya'.

I am so happy that my containers are going crazy just as my main gardens are finishing with  the majority of blooms for this year.  Except for watering there is not much work to do on the container plantings. I can spend the next two months just enjoying them.

I have a lot of dahlias just beginning to bloom, too. I will show you those later this week.

Right now I have to get some work done while dinner makes itself in the Nesco.  Now that's a colorful meal!
I have had this NESCO for years, but rarely used it.  With this year's heat wave, I have started to use it so I don't have to heat up the kitchen.  It is a 4-quart -- perfect size for two people.

10 comments:

  1. My mom ALWAYS used her Nesco in the summer. I don't have one, but what a great idea. I had forgotten about them. I'm rather "tired" of sandwiches and grilled food already.......

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  2. Love the urns. The purple stuff really makes all the rest stand out. Your Echinacea area is looking lovely. Still no rain here and a heatwave. Not a lot left.

    Cher Sunray Gardens

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  3. Your flowers are just beautiful

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  4. I don't know what looks better, the flowers or the meal!

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  5. You really have such a way of putting your flowers into perfect compositions, Zoey. They are always beautiful. Your meal looks great. I have been doing lots of salads and using the crock pot, too. xo Diana

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  6. Zoey your urn looks so beautiful.It has really grown girl! I love the plant combinations and colors. Just so lovely. I will be there for dinner. LOL!

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  8. Your planters are awesome! I am really enjoying some of my potted plants more than the gardens this year. Your color combos are great.

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  9. I love those yellow callas and I think nasturiums are one of the best container plants..and they are edible as well.
    Your meal looks delicious as I'm sure it was!

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  10. I love the way the big round nasturtium leaves make the rest of that container pop. And the lighting on the cannas is delightful! My containers are fading in the heat of midsummer, and it's hard to keep them watered well enough. Yours look great!

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