It Does Not Look Like My Big Blue Container will Bloom

Thursday when I got home from work my Breck's order was waiting for me.

I was not really into planting that night, but I knew I was going away for the weekend, so I forced myself to get it done. It's always best to plant any mail orders as soon as they arrive.

I always forget just how bad my soil is in certain areas. See all the rocks in the box?
They all came from that little hole I dug to plant some Tango lilies. There are areas where I really cannot dig more than three inches. I was reminded of that again today as I was digging out some asters to move to the left side of this planter.I think I had some there before, but I removed them all last year!! LOL. Yes, now I am putting them back. Don't ask me why I do these things. :) I decided today that without the asters, the garden would be very blah.

Did you notice that the blue planter had no flowers? I think this area is too shady and the Tropicanna is not going to bloom. So I decided to swap planters. That's the beauty of using a big container like this and just inserting other containers into it. I can grow them up on the deck and swap them out whenever I want a change.

I had a new canna blooming on the deck. It's one I bought from Breck's two years ago. I think it's 'Wyoming', but I am not sure. It has a similar color flower as Tropicanna.

I miss the lighter green from the Elephant Ears in the previous container, but it's nice to see an orange bloom next to the purple asters

I also moved a few more colchium to the arbor path.
This forever hydrangea has been blooming all summer. It's great to buy something that actually behaves as they say it does.

The Old Ricketty Chair

Is Back!



I had planned to toss it last year, but after DH sturdied it up a bit, I decided to give it another whirl.

It's not all that lovely at the moment, but let us not judge until mid July after it has time to fill out a bit.

Don't you just hate having to wait so long for container plants to fill in? If you ever watch the TV gardeners plant containers, they look lush and full right from the start because they don't start with 6-pack annuals. They use 4" containers and larger. It's nice to be able to do that, but VERY, VERY costly.









I did 4 containers at work this year.
Two like this



As you can see, I am not nearly as frugal with the company funds. LOL.

These big planters look pretty nice already and I just did them 2 weeks ago.






I used 4 nice sized Tropicanna Gold callas and was very surprised to see one blooming already.
















The other two planters are not as full. I am going for foliage here and very little flowers. Only the calla and the Scaevola( hanging in the front) will have flowers. I have 'Ruffles' coleus and 'Purple knight' alternanthera which should fill out nicely. At least that's the plan...

My coleus chair is beginning to look nice. I planted a new (new to my area) sun coleus hybrid called 'The Flume'. It is one of the 'proven winners' selection, described as "bold, saber-shaped foliage with bright burgundy and a green border with a brilliant pink center." I like it quite well, although I do hope it gets about a foot taller. It says it gets from 12 - 24". So far it is a bit less than the 12".

It has been a month since I planted my deck containers. It seems like it is taking forever for them to fill out. Some things have been a disappointment. Remember the chair I planted with purple petunias? Well, look below. The petunias turned out to be mostly pink, which is NOT what I wanted. I hate when the plant tag does not tell you exactly what the plant is. The orange calla lilies I had planted in the chair never came up. I removed them and they were mushy. (that is the second Walmart purchase that flopped this year; 3 of the 6 dahlias I planted also never came up). The sweet potato vine seems to be stunted. It is just sitting there, not trailing down and filling in as I expected. I could no longer take looking at the bottom of the chair, so I placed another plant in front until it fills in. I didn't like the grapevine bow on the chair, so it is now gone. I did paint a watering can yellow to match the yellow chairs and table. Then I removed the table and chairs from the deck. Of course, they could end up back in their original position.

Changing things is nothing new for me. I rearrange my deck like many people do their living room. Actually it IS my summer living room. If I am not on the computer, I am usually working in the gardens or on the deck.

Country Chair Container

My poor old chair should have been thrown away this year, but with a hammer and a few nails, I think I can get one more year out of it. I planted it with purple petunia, blackie sweet potato vine, variegated vinca, and orange calla lilies. So I won't forget that I planted the callas, I took the picture with the label at the back. I hope they grow and flower as this container really needs the punch of orange color. The sweet potato vine and the vinca will grow fast and all the way to the ground. A major pet peeve of mine is seeing chairs planted without plants that hang down. I just hate to see the bottom of the pot sticking out, or, in my case, the screening that covers the bottom. Please, please if you plant a chair, cover the mechanics! It will make or break your whole arrangement. I can't tell you how many chair plantings I have seen that would be quite wonderful if only the bottom of the pot was not sticking out.

Here is a bigger picture of the sled and child rocking chair.

I really like container gardening. Part of the pleasure is finding containers to grow things in that are different from the mundane purchased pots. The majority of my containers are not typical. A few of the things I have used are: whiskey barrell, wicker dresser (which only lasted one season), wooden doll cradle, dining chairs with seats removed & watering cans, metal milk pails, child's rocking chair with a hole cut thru the seat to set the pot in, wooden sled with a raised box built on the top, and metal fishing cans (don't know what they are called). You can plant in any thing that will hold dirt. Does anyone else have any unique ideas?