Tabla de contenidos para Container Gardening / Event 18 en Container Gardening: Instant Beauty

Elements of good design Before you head off to the nursery to find some pretty plants or flowers, to make interesting and beautiful containers, it pays to consider the three major components of design: color, texture, and form. COLOR is the first thing most people notice about a container arrangement. Color influences how we feel and react. Warm tones, such as reds, oranges, and yellows, nab attention immediately, while blues, purples, and pastels may seem more soothing. Greens, grays, and whites can harmonize with almost any other hue. Remember that you can coordinate foliage and bloom colors with the color of your pot (luckily, terra-cotta goes with almost everything!). FORM refers to the shape of a plant and its parts. Think about how tall and wide your plants will grow.…

GREEN THUMBS UP! Make the most of wide entry steps by lining one side with masses of flowering pots. Balance the opposite side with a step-trimmed hedge. tip-top entry ideas GO FOR GROUPS Gather an odd number of containers together for a casual look; a pair of pots flanking a door signals a formal style. COLOR CUES Coordinate bloom colors with the exterior hues of your home. They don't have to match but you don't want them to clash. FLOWER FREE In the off-season, fill containers with variegated or textured evergreen foliage. SCENT-SATION Add plants with fragrant foliage and flowers closest to the door and sidewalk.…

When Kathie Wickham moved into a brand-new tract home 30 years ago in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA, the now-retired floral designer had grand landscaping plans for a relatively small, 7,500-square-foot lot. But thanks to deft designing, the irregularly shaped yard proved large enough to contain all her ambitions. Kathie’s wish list included a gazebo as a central focal point, a vegetable garden, fruit trees, a patio, a water garden, and lots of flower beds. She and her husband, Dan, got all that by growing veggies in a side yard, which left the back-yard free for other garden elements. “We wanted to create a lush, woodland feel with a lot of color, especially in spring,” says Kathie. “Some people prefer mulch in between plants, but we fill in with all kinds of…

Beautiful Little Butterfly Garden Children and adults thrill to the sight of colorful butterflies soaring over and landing upon garden plants. Cater to these nectar lovers with a container that’s designed to attract and feed them. Include a parsley plant that you can sacrifice to a very hungry monarch butterfly caterpillar. Butterflies are drawn to brightly colored flowers, especially yellow, orange, red, blue, and pink. If you use lantana, pay attention to the mature size. Many varieties grow quite large so you’ll want to plant just one and be aware that the berries that form on lantana after the flowers fade are toxic if eaten; keep them deadheaded. For the final touch, include a water source such as a small saucer or jar lid that’s filled with red sand, tiny…

WAVE PETUNIA These massively popular, fast-growing annuals come in candy-colored shades of pink, purple, yellow, red, white and apricot. They bloom nonstop and trail over the edge of a pot in waves of color, hence the name. SCAVEOLA With their pretty blue-purple, fan-shaped blooms, scaveola look great in containers and don’t need to be deadheaded to keep blooming. The best reason to plant this variety? Butterflies love them. COLEUS The funky foliage colors of this plant, which range from lime green to blood reds, make it a fabulous filler for a container. Look for varieties that grow in sun or shade, depending on your needs. VERBENA A spreading annual that cascades over pots, this is a classic spiller. Its clusters of tiny, fragrant flowers come in white, pink and purple…

Watering Every living thing needs water to survive. However, water needs for containers vary wildly. Water gardens contain plants that need moisture all the time, while cacti, some succulents, and some perennials prefer life on the dry side. Understand the water requirements of your plants before you plant. Just as you pay attention to sun and shade requirements, you should avoid mixing plants with different water needs in the same container. Container-grown plants can’t extend their roots to seek out more moisture, so you must provide it for them. However, if you overwater, you can drown the roots. Be sure your containers provide excellent drainage. Pots may need watering at least once a day and sometimes more often, depending on the size of the container, amount of heat and wind,…

Lushly planted containers are essential elements to consider when pulling together your landscape plan. They're the finishing touches that link home and garden while drawing eyes to areas you'd like to highlight. Place flowerpots, troughs, urns, and planters so they define perimeters, light up shady areas, perform as sun and privacy screens, direct foot traffic, and fashionably flush out gaps in your landscape. Choose containers and plants that complement your home and garden’s style and color scheme and weave them throughout your front and back yards and into patios, decks and porches—and even on roofs and balconies. GREEN THUMBS UP! Plant colorfully leafed shrubs with interesting shapes or broadleaf evergreens and needled conifers in large containers for year-round interest. tiered appeal Place containers high and low so something interesting is…

Pretty in Pink The gray tones of the container coordinate with the silver leaves of the licorice plant. Top them with luscious shades of pink, and you’ve got a container that’s exciting and sedate at the same time. BASICS CONTAINER SIZE: 3-foot pot LIGHT: Sun WATER: Consistent watering; in hot weather keep soil moist but not wet INGREDIENTS A. 1 pink hibiscus such as ‘C’est Bon’ Hibiscus rosa-sinensis B. 5 pink ivy-leaf geraniums (Pelargonium peltatum) C. 3 silver-leaf licorice plants (Helichrysum petiolare) NOTES Tropical hibiscus make excellent container plants. In cold climates, move them indoors for winter, stop fertilizing, and allow the soil to dry out between waterings. Since hibiscus prefer temperatures that people also like—60 to 90 degrees—you’ll know when to bring the plant outdoors again. The best blooming…

Water gardens can be made in any container that holds water. If you have a pot with drainage holes you'd like to use, seal the hole or purchase a black flexible pond liner and cut it to fit. Fountain how-to GATHER YOUR TOOLS • Pump (plus adapter if needed to attach tubing)• ¾-inch inside diameter tubing• Below-ground reservoir and lid• Fountain bowl HOW TO STEP A Dig a hole to hold the reservoir and its lid at ground level. STEP B Dig a narrow trench for the tubing (approximately 10 inches long by 2 inches wide by 3 inches deep) on the side of the reservoir where the tubing will go. STEP C Place the reservoir inside the hole; level it. STEP D Connect the tubing to the pump (plus…

Sweet corn or apple trees growing in containers? Believe it! Thanks to science, almost everything edible has been downsized for planting in pots. As with other plants, edibles grow bigger if they are placed in larger pots. Avoid garden soil, which is too heavy for containers and won't provide adequate drainage; use a mix blended for pots. Keep the soil evenly moist, and be sure the container you choose has drainage holes so standing water won't rot the roots. Most edibles perform best in full sun; place the container in a location that receives at least 6 or more hours of direct light every day, or move it to follow the sun as the day progresses. Plant Veggies on the Patio What’s in a name? A clue to whether the…

Low Growers Old produce boxes and beverage crates offer inexpensive container options with heaps of character. Plant shallow boxes with a mix of annuals that don’t need a deep root system. Deeper wine and soda bottle crates offer more scope for a mix of perennials, annuals, and even dwarf or miniature shrubs. BASICS CONTAINER SIZE: 2x3-foot crate LIGHT: Shade to part shade WATER: Consistent; keep moist but not wet INGREDIENTS A. 3 New Guinea impatiens B. 1 asparagus fern C. 3 green spider plants (Chlorophytum comosum) D. 2 coleus, such as ‘Dark Heart’ NOTES Red New Guinea impatiens pop against the complementary green foliage while picking up on and highlighting the color in the box label. Dots of burgundy in the coleus and impatiens leaves carry the eye throughout the…