Wednesday, June 18, 2008

How Many Ways Can You Define Boring Planters?

Well, one way is Geraniums with a Spike in the Middle.

After two trips to 5 different flower places, I could not find anything that piqued my interest enough to plant in the 4 containers at the hotel.

I was about to settle for one big hibiscus plant in each planter when The Big Kahuna stated that he liked these pots that were already all planted. Well, when the Big K speaks, I'm all ears!

My heart wasn't into those hibiscus plants anyway, so I agreed that these would be fine. They only had one planter made up, so we ordered more of them and Saturday he went and picked up the four geranium planters with a spike in the middle and asparagus fern as the spiller.

There is nothing wrong with them, they are just so overused. If they didn't make a nice combo, they wouldn't be overused, but I find them pretty dull and they certainly lack the creative planting touch.

They are way too small for these big containers.

I was happy that The Big Kahuna and our Chief Engineer even planted them while I was off over the weekend. What a fine job they did. They dug out all the soil and dropped the entire plastic pot right into these containers. I noticed immediately on Monday morning how neatly they were planted.

The Chief Engineer told me that after they planted them, he said, "Zo's not going to like these." He knows me so well. What he doesn't really realize is that Zo does not really care this year and what she likes best is not having to do any of the planting or maintaing work! It only matters that the Big K likes them.

We also have a full-time outdoor landscape maintenance man. He will take over the watering/fertilizing duties. I am sure that in a month or so, they will look much better, although I suspect they will never get as big as they need to be to balance out those tall planters.

The other day Priscilla asked this question:
How do you edge your beds? with a flat-edged spade? a power edger? what? I need to do it.

Priscilla, I have nothing exciting that I use to edge. I used a plain old shovel like this:


Sometimes I use a flat edge shovel, which makes a much nicer edge, but this one was already within grabbing distance, so it's what I used this time.

8 comments:

  1. I have to agree, they certainly don't have the color and flair of the ones you had done in previous years. But, like you say, as long as the Big K likes them, so be it. And you didn't have to do the work.

    I'm sure the pots on your own deck will be fabulous, as always!

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  2. You are right Zoey, the plants are way too amall for those big containers. But hey it's not 'your business' this year, so be it!
    I know what you mean about boring plants..

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  3. They may be too amall as well but I meant to say small...hehe

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  4. You're right, those plants are way too small. That big, tall container could look stunning graced with a specimen like Miscanthus sinensis 'Morning Light.'

    Eep. What a surprise to see my name in your post.

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  5. Oh, and thanks for talking about what you use to edge your beds. What do you do with the clumps once you've edged them? Do you have a compost heap?

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  6. At least it was out of your hands. Personally, hibiscus would have been neat. Remember I told you I planted 3 different ones in one pot? It looks so neat when it is blooming as I have yellow one day and red or peach another day.
    There are tons of kinds of geraniums and fillers. Oh well. What your deck looks like is what is interesting to us. So there Big K!
    My mom and I had a half moon edger. It's not as heavy as a shovel. She just bought hers and loves it. I wanted an electric one and Bri came home with the above.

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  7. I don't know, Giddy. My own plants are not growing very quickly in this 58 degree weather we've been having.

    I knew just what you meant, Betty. :) I make so many errors when I comment. I think because I am doing it to quickly.

    Priscilla, Yes, I have a compost pile that I toss them on.

    Dianne, I thought of you when I saw those hibiscus plants!

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  8. Hi Zoey

    We`re having very chilly weather here too in Canada. I`m just hoping it doesn`t hurt the veg plants. My others seem to be doing okay so far and some are blooming.
    I bought the herb plants. One day I might try from seed though :) Good luck with yours!

    tea
    xo

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