The Biggest Whiskey Barrel Planting I Have Ever Had

I mean, this thing is huge!  Who knew that the liatris would multiply like this?

 The liatris and purple coneflower stay in the whiskey barrel all winter.  The dahlias are in pots and just sitting there for now.  The bottom dahlia is yellow and looks like a daisy. It normally grows upward, but one windy day, the big blue door that used to be in this corner fell on it and nearly severed the stems.  I just left it there with its fallen stems until I had time to cut them out. Funny thing happened....it continued to grow! This planting needed a "spiller" plant anyway, so it all worked out perfectly.  I wish it was in bloom for this post. Just imagine a mass of yellow daisies at the bottom. :) While you are imaging, conjure up a nice mass of the blue salvia with the light green leaves filling in the side to your right with spikes of blue.  I think the poor salvia just ran out of space to grow.

 I used to have a pot of orange nasturtiums here, but changed to the pink dahlia yesterday.

My second whiskey barrel looks totally different.  It has the new orange coneflower 'Hot Papaya' that I bought in June.  Unfortunately 'Hot Papaya' finished blooming weeks ago and I cut it back hoping for a second flush of color.  The tall dahlia is another 'Myrtle's Folly'.  I had to tie the dahlias to the railing as they, too, were falling over from the wind.  I used fish line so you can't see the ties.  One thing I really dislike is seeing plants tied up!

 There are quite a few other plants in here, too--Russian Sage, salvia, nasturtium, ornamental kale, etc.   One of the 'Hot Papaya' flowers is just starting to rebloom.  I am hoping to get a half dozen or so of those with the dahlias as there is some orange in Myrtle.

So even though it is mid-August, I still have a lot to look forward to in my container gardens. As the perennial gardens begin to wane, the deck containers are just beginning. That is the great thing about growing dahlias, cannas, and calla lilies. When I am busy in the perennial gardens, they take little care as they are just beginning to grow. It is always August before they start needing my attention.

I also have liatris planted in the deck entrance planters.

When I used to plant it in the ground, it never spread. In fact, it always died out.  When I planted it in these containers, it spread and continues to do so every year.  I dug them from these planters for the whiskey barrel a few years ago.  The wind did a number on these, too.

So if you have tried liatris and could not get it to succeed, you may have better luck if you try it in containers.