Plant Perennials in Containers

Written on May 29, 2012 at 6:15 am , by Justin W. Hancock

I hear from lots of readers who want their container gardens to look a little different than the norm. Petunias and geraniums are fine, they tell me, but this year they want something a little “more than fine.”

One way to do this is to look beyond the usual plant palette of annuals and consider perennials. They’re more expensive up front but what many gardeners don’t realize is that you can pull them out of your containers at the end of the season and plant them in your garden. That way you can enjoy that same perennial for years to come. The example shown here uses columbine to wonderful effect with petunias, dianthus, euphorbia, and bacopa.

Some of my favorite perennials to use in containers include:

Coralbells: Their colorful foliage is a showstopper from spring to fall and are perfect for partly shaded situations. Dark-leaf varieties such as ‘Mocha’ are fun alternatives for sweet potato vine and won’t overgrow the space. (Get the same effect from chartreuse varieties, such as ‘Citronelle’.)

Ajuga: Another type with fun foliage for the shade, ajuga bears great foliage and creeps over the container, covering the soil and softly spilling over the container edges. ‘Burgundy Glow’ is a particular favorite; the leaves are variegated with silver, white, and purple.

Switchgrass: Varieties such as ‘Northwind’ offer fantastic upright structure in containers. They offer a very contemporary feel and are fun alternatives to cannas.

Blanketflower: This native prairie plant doesn’t mind it hot and dry, and blooms on and off all summer with yellow, orange, or red flowers. It’s a prime pick for attracting butterflies!

Strength in Numbers

Written on May 16, 2012 at 5:32 am , by Justin W. Hancock

Driving around town I see a lot of homes that decorate their front steps with a pair of lovely container gardens. It’s a classic look, but if you would like to amp it up a notch, try a group of containers.

While the example shown here is a little over the top, it may be easy to imagine how two groups of three containers flanking your door brings on more impact than just two pots — especially if you use containers of different sizes to add varying heights.

One lesson I do really like in this example, though, is the study in contrasts. You have rich dark foliage from Alternantera ‘Black Varnish’ with black mondo grass artfully playing off yellow calibrachoa and lantana (and the gold in the edges of the coleus in the background). The shades of lavender and blue from calibrachoa, verbena, and scaevola offer a contrast, too.

Another way to make it extra special? Add sweet scents from plants such as heliotrope, lemon verbena, and stock.

Triscuit’s Home Farming Challenge-Accepted and Dominated!

Written on August 25, 2011 at 4:13 pm , by Katie A Ketelsen

In April, Better Homes and Gardens teamed up with Triscuit to create the ultimate Home Farming challenge for three bloggers {who’d never gardened before} to create their best home farm.

Annie, Catherine and Peabody accepted said challenge and frankly…dominated it! Each blogger had different conditions to grow their vegetables in–balcony, typical residential lot and a rural setting, thus creating a variety of challenges. But overall I’m quite impressed with how well their home farms flourished!

Here’s a look at their finished products:

Annie Mama Dweeb

Catherine Davis

Peabody Rudd

To get a feel for where they started–check out the progress pictures for Annie, Catherine and Peabody. Or read up on how they overcame their struggles and managed to eat from their garden throughout the summer.

And then help us decide who created the best home farm by voting here {psst….just by voting you are entered to win $1000 yourself!}

color on display

Written on August 12, 2011 at 10:01 am , by Everyday Gardeners

Last week I visited the Gardens at Ball in West Chicago, IL, and spent the day photographing hundreds of gorgeous annual flowers, perennials, and shrubs. The gardens are open to the public, and definitely worth a visit to get ideas on how to combine plants for beautiful displays and to see side-by-side comparisons of flower varieties.

Cocktail Mix begonia in a background of Alternanthera spells out the Ball logo in this vertical garden display.

Although the gardens are large, they're arranged into "rooms" that mimic the scale of home landscapes. See below for a close up of this combo.

Zahara Double Fire zinnia, Henna coleus, Mahogany Splendor hibiscus, and Silky Scarlet Asclepias combine beautifully in this hot border.

This pillar of Wave Purple Improved petunia and Wave Misty Lilac petunia brightens the patio outside the employee cafeteria.

Here's a close up showing how the petunia tower was constructed. Basically, it's a ring of galvanized fencing lined with landscape fabric, then filled with potting soil. The petunias were planted through slits in the landscape fabric. This looks like a pretty easy do-it-yourself project!

Here's an idea for taming a slope. Large culverts were filled with soil and planted with Madeira colocasia, Marguerite and Sweet Caroline Light Green sweet potato vine, Silky Gold asclepias, and Snow Princess lobularia.

Wordless Wednesday!

Written on August 10, 2011 at 5:13 am , by Justin W. Hancock

It’s Wednesday…that means time to show off some fantastic photos from the BHG Share My Gallery.

——————————————————————————————————————

——————————————————————————————————————

earth day salad bowls

Written on April 22, 2011 at 9:59 am , by Denny Schrock

Lettuce, kale, chives, and pansies make a colorful and edible garden accent.

Why not celebrate Earth Day by jumping on the grow-your-own-veggies bandwagon? Colorful salad bowls are a great way to grow your own produce in a limited amount of space. And they can be far more than strictly utilitarian. Combine salad greens with edible flowers and herbs for a showy and tasty mix.

The folks at PanAmerican Seed and BallHort have made creating your own salad bowl a snap with their new SimplySalad seed pellets. Each pellet contains a mix of several edible greens. Global Gourmet provides Asian flair with lacy red and green mustards paired with lettuces of the same color. The Alfresco blend brings a Mediterranean vibe with arugula, endive, and radicchio combined with red and green lettuces. And for the less adventuresome, the City Garden mix teams mild leaf lettuces in a variety of burgundy and green hues.

This photo shows the Global Gourmet salad mix in a container garden, along with Alfresco mix seed pellets in a vial attached to its store display card.

By planting several salad bowls you can have a steady supply of greens for your dinner table. This bowl is ready to harvest. I’ll simply cut the greens off a couple of inches above the ground. In about 3 weeks, they should be ready to harvest again. I expect to get several cycles of harvest from the bowl before summer’s heat puts an end to the harvest. A bonus with growing the greens in a bowl: I can move the container to the shade when temperatures heat up, extending the harvest season. And I’ll be sure to plant some more pellets in mid-summer for fall harvest. By then, I’ll have lots of tomatoes and peppers from my garden to add to the salads!