Flower Power Update!

I thought I would update you on how our flower containers were doing. It is getting late in the season so the pots are getting super full.

Here are some side by side comparisons of the current and previous pictures of them. I am using small images for display so click on them to make them bigger.

Morning glory pots – previous post	Original Planting	Original Planting
Morning Glories as of September 2012

The newer picture is the one on the bottom and you can’t even see the chair in the middle any more. We have also had to push them away from the door to the garage. When you walk through the door it feels like the vines are trying to grab you!

Blue pot – previous post	Blue Pot – original
Front side – today	Back of container – today

This container has filled out so much that you can’t even see the pot from either side. I especially like the begonia on the back side of the container. Those leaves are bigger than my hand!

Canna Lily pot – previously	Canna Lily pot – original
Canna Lily pot – today

The Canna Lilies have really put on quite a show all summer long. As of this picture there were about 6 blossoms either open or about to open. Charlie plans on removing the bulbs and keeping them over the winter so we can enjoy them next year too!

Blue Sage pot – previously	Blue Sage pot – original
Blue Sage & Verbena – today

The blue sage in this pot has never stopped blooming and has never needed dead heading. This is not what we expected. I will definitely use it again, but next time I will plant something medium height in front of it since it has gotten a bit scraggly. Not only have the bees and hummingbirds enjoyed this, but as the flowers dry up the gold finches have landed on it and eaten the seeds.

Brown pot on patio – previously	Brown pot on patio – original
Brown Pot on Patio – today

Another container that filled out so much that you can’t even see the pot! If you click on the images you can also see how much taller everything got as the coleus now is above the window cell.

Container on Patio Wall – side view	Container on Patio Wall – front view
Patio Wall Container – original

I don’t think I have shown this container before. It sits on the wall of our patio and only has a coleus and bacopa in it. At first it didn’t seem like much, but over the summer you can see it sure has filled out. The bacopa on the front trails all the way to the ground!

I hope you enjoyed this update of my garden containers. The only secret to obtaining results like this is to water the containers every day and fertilize ever two to three weeks.

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Container Gardening

Every year Charlie and I like to plant some containers on our patio with annuals to add more color to the garden. I like to plant them fairly full right from the start so they don’t take all summer to look good. I also like to use plants that don’t require a lot of maintenance such as dead heading.

Center – Tropical Yellow Canna Lily
Outer ring – Lanai Blush White Verbena & Solanum Jasminoides Aurea

This is one of three large pots we planted.  The Canna Lilies in the center will eventually grow to about 30″ and have beautiful yellow gold flowers. The Solanum is primarily a foliage plant with that beautiful yellow and green leaf, but will eventually have small white flowers also.

Center – Mealycup Sage Sallyfun Blue
Outside ring – Blue Velvet Verbena & Lanai Twister Verbena (pink)

I love using verbena to trail down the sides of the pots.  They are very draught tolerant and never need dead heading.  If they get too big you can cut them back and they just keep on going.

Stained Glassworks Trailing Plum Coleus
Snowstorm Giant Snowflake Bacopa

This small pot sits on the wall of our patio so there is plenty of room for it to trail down all summer long.  We have never used this coleus before, but just loved the color and form.

Happy Hour Rose Morning Glory

These two morning glories were planted less than a week ago. Yes they came that big from the store! They are planted on either side of a chair against our garage wall. As the vines keep climbing Charlie is planning on putting a few nails in the wall and tying string from the nails to the top of the trellises so the vines can just keep climbing all over the wall.

The next two pictures show two sides of the same pot.

Center – Religious Radish Coleus
Front – Stained Glassworks Trailing Plum Coleus
Left – Snowstorm Giant Snowflake Bacopa
Right – Wilhelm Langguth Geranium

Center – Religious Radish Coleus
Left – Aztec Burgundy Verbena
Right – Gryphon Begonia

Currently the geranium in this pot doesn’t have any flowers, but they will be dark red flowers to go along with all the other reds in the pot. I like the way the variegated leaf of the geranium helps to lighten the foliage in this pot as well.

Center back – Florida Sun Coleus
Left – Happy Thoughts Pink Geranium
Center front – Aztec Burgundy Verbena
Right – Lava Rose Coleus

I think this is my favorite pot this year. Most of the foliage in this pot are variegated and eventually the verbena and coleus on the right will trail to the ground.

This is the patio where the pots are. Eventually they will fill out more and have more impact. The morning glories are next to the reddish door so you can see how they will eventually have plenty of room to keep climbing.

One of the things we think about when planning our pots is how the butterflies and hummingbirds could use them.  The verbena is a favorite of both of these as well as the Salvia. The key to keeping the pots looking great all summer is regular watering and feedings.  Every couple of weeks we will water them with Miracle Grow fertilizer and almost every day they are watered.

I hope you enjoyed this look at our container plantings for this summer.  Stop by later in the summer and I will show you some updated pictures of how everything fills in.

 

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