The Old Sled Has Peaked

Here it is when I planted it in late May


And here it is about 10 minutes ago.

I think this is about as good as it's going to get this year. It doesn't make me all giddy with excitement, but it's not bad. It has marigolds, calendulas, spikey blue salvia, 'whirlwind blue' scaevola, a small elephant's ear and one yellow zinnia (the only seed that survived). I really would have liked it if the red zinnias I planted had survived.


The morning glories reseeded themselves from last year and were a surprise when they appeared in July. I like them softening the frontal view.

All in all, I think the planting was a design success, due as much to the morning glory surprise as to my planning. I have a good combination of tall spikey, fat round, big leaves, small leaves, and just enough draping over the side to soften, yet not hide the sled.


This is last year's sled full of brightly-colored zinnias.
There was no design thought to this at all. I just stuck a bunch of purchased zinnias in. I did not even know what color they would be. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed it last year. The hummingbirds liked it, too. This year they don't come around the sled at all.

Moral of the story:
A container does not have to be expertly designed to be enjoyable.

Scaevola and Popcorn

I thought the black-eyed Susans and the Scaevola made a nice combo.


Last night I made some real popcorn (not the microwave stuff).
Remember putting oil in pan and popping it on the stove, then melting real butter to drizzle over top?
How long has it been since you've made popcorn like that?

Second set of Big Planters at Work

I thought I would show you how the second set of planters are filling out. There are two of these flanking our dining room entrance.

I am not 100% happy with these. My plan was to highlight the foliage with a minimum of flowers. That part works, I think. It's just not as full as I would like it to be.

Here's a close up of the foliage colors

The scaevola in the front (little blue flowers) is not nearly as full as I had hoped and the coleus in the back is too small.

Sled Planter

I am still waiting for my sled planter to make me ohhh and ahhhh.
It's planted with calendulas, big marigolds, and blue salvia.
There is a morning glory vine in the front that came back from last year and I put some small dahlias in it, but I don't think they survived.
It's beginning to fill in nicely, but I need something to soften the angular sides.




I am tempted to dig out the scaevola 'Whirlwind Blue' from this planter.




I almost dug it out last night, but decided I liked it there.
I am pretty sure I won't have such self control when I get home work today.

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...

Never Say "1/2 Off" to an Addict

On a whim, I went to Home Depot last night. Upon entering I saw little signs all over, "Plant Sale - 1/2 Off"...tempting a plantoholic with those words is akin to offering heroin to a drug addict. I had not planned to do any more containers, but by the end of the night I had emptied two trunkloads onto my deck. Unhappy with the wave petunias on the arbor, I decided to purchase more scaevola, (fan flower) because I just adore its purple fan-shaped flowers and its sprawling nature. I added one of these to 3 of the containers there in hopes that it will sprawl quickly and get those containers completely covered. I also added them to the wall containers on the deck. I already have some in the barrels (see pic below). They have grown about 12 inches in the 3 weeks since planting. Scaevola is my new favorite container plant. I also bought a couple of coleus. Isn't it amazing what they have done with this old standby? Simply beautiful foliage patterns in all colors imaginable.

Barrel Plants

Last night I was too tired to finish my post. I wanted to tell you what plants I had planted in the barrel:

Persian Shield (back middle - should get 3 feet tall). A foliage plant with purple leaves & silver veins. I have not grown this one before.
Celosia -Red foliage plants on each side in the back. They will get red spikey flowers
Celosia - orange and yellow spikey things
Osteopernum - purple daisy
Calibrocha - It is a tiny yellowish petunia- like flower spilling over the edge. I believe it is also called million bells.
Sweet Potato Vine - planted two of these - -purple foliage
Scaevola aemula: Blue wonder, Escabola, Fan flower - Trailing purplish thing in front (I planted this at work last year and it was beautiful)