Some Favorite Photos from the Past Couple of Seasons

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was reorganizing some photos from the past couple of seasons, and here are a few favorites.  As always, click on them to enlarge.

This first is one of a pair of containers I purchased last year.  They are concrete and new, but I love the finish on them.  They are made to resemble rusting cast iron containers, and I really like the sense of age they bring to what is a relatively young garden (12 years old).  I don't even know the cultivar on the pansies.  I purchased the containers in late winter, and these pansies were what was available at Lowe's in a large-enough quanity to fill the two containers.  I particularly like the contrast against the Spanish bluebells, which have naturalized in the bed on the upper level (these containers are on a ledge at the top of a small staircase).

The gazebo at the pool is mostly shade throughout the day, so it's the perfect place to put some of the houseplants for the summer months.  We have these four containers on wheels, so they can be moved a few times during the course of the season to grow more evenly.  This colocasia (elephant ear) is called "Elena," and is an awesome chartreuse that lights up every container combination. 

The gate into the walled garden cuts through the center of the (mostly) white border. This is early spring, with variegated boxwood and violas in the urns, and white peonies just about to open.  The sago palms on the pillars stay outside except in the coldest weather, as do the potted ivy topiaries.  (I only know the date because we flip the containers to summer flowers April 15, which is generally the last frost in metro-Atlanta.)

 The fig in August is literally dripping with nectar; we manage to pick whatever the birds and squirrels don't beat us to!

The front entrance explodes in July, and these Hydrangeas will stay until we cut the blooms off in October.  We replaced a clipped holly hedge with the Limelight Hydrangea a couple of years ago, and cut it back to about 2 feet every spring to control its summer height.  In the containers on the porch is Colocasia "Elena" again.

(Please feel free to borrow any ideas you'd like, but please don't "borrow" my photos and claim them as your own!  Thanks!)

Some Tough Characters

It's been a tough year for containers, but they're hanging in there!  Pansies and violas are especially cold TOLERANT, but not necessarily snow lovers.... (this Euonymus only looks good in the winter when the scale is dormant.....it goes in the trash in spring!)

One of the most pedestrian cultivars of Pansy (Delta True Orange) is also one of the best in this sort of weather! 

The Euphorbias showing off winter color 

Each time there is a snow casualty in this hanging basket, another piece of cut greenery goes in.  By March it will look like an FTD arrangement! 

Aaahhhhh.......in the greenhouse the clerodendron is blooming! 

Lettuces, mesclun and spinach are all showing up for late winter salads! 

I tend to use pretty huge photos, so if you click on them they look a whole lot better usually...

Autumn Container

For some reason only one photo would upload when I started this post, so I guess that's all you'll see until tomorrow.  One of the fall containers at the Big House, looking very tailored by comparison to the summer things we recently removed.  "Silver King" Euonymus is definitely not a plant I would put into the ground (a scale-making machine, in my experience), but it's great for winter color.  "Antique Shades" pansy, variegated liriope, and a few other fillers. 

She Heard Me Talking......

                           
We're in the midst of redoing all of the containers with fall and winter arrangements, and try to do them all at the same time (at least all of them in one area of the property), so there is a consistent theme and color running through the whole area.  For the past several days, we've been working around the pool. 

With each change of season, Patti and I do "the dance" about which things should be left "just a few (hours, days, weeks) longer" because they are still blooming.  As much as I can often agree, I am also sensitive to making sure things get switched out so the new plants have enough time to become established before cold weather hits.

On Saturday, it really did bother me to remove the Brugmansia "Betty Marshall" so that the Camellia could be installed in that space for winter.  Clearly Betty heard me say her death was impending a few days early, because the bloom was simply incredible!  Unfortunately my sensible side won out, but what a swan song for this summer season!  I'm justifying it by reminding myself that I'm only putting Betty to sleep for the winter, and after a few months of resting in a bucket of water, she'll be back, better than ever!

Pipevine in A Container at the Big House

This is one of those plants that "ya just gotta have" somewhere in the garden.  It's not winter hardy here (zone 7B-8, depending upon who you ask), so I'm planning to bring it into the greenhouse this winter and see what happens.  Has anyone else tried overwintering these?  I have the native species in the Stepchild Garden, and it does just fine overwintering, but the flowers are tiny little things.  (In fact, I've already told Patti she can have the native one for her house.......it's not worth the space in my mind.)

It is officially Artistolochia elegans, though they are apparently in the midst of renaming it Aristolochia littoralils.  If you have kids or pets who are going to feel a need to touch this, please be aware that the plant is pretty toxic, and is particularly linked to kidney issues.

New Containers

                             

Here are two new containers I picked up this week that I thought were pretty cool.  The hummingbird box is one of a pair for the big house, and it's actually a "rust" finish over concrete, so completely maintenance free.  The Celestial Maiden planter is for the Stepchild Garden.  Please ignore the fact that she's sitting in a bed of weeds in this shot.  The container weighs 95 pounds, and got prompty placed on the ground near the truck until I move it to its permanent home!

Containers at the Big House

I get asked regularly about the different components of containers, so I've put this in as larger photos.  As always, you can click on them to make them larger.

This first one is of the "white bridge," which is perhaps the hardest to construct technically.  The large (56") wire baskets hang on the sides of the bridge.  This side is dappled sun most of the day, and the other side is shade, so it's always a challenge to come up with a combination that works well through the summer.

At the pool, there are lots of tropicals this year.  In this grouping, the most noticeable plants are the bourganvillea, ginger, and Malva "Zebrina," that Tom at Seventh Street recommended.

At the garage, it's incredibly bright, but no direct sun, so I've had good luck with the Australian Tree Fern the past couple of summers.  Acuba likes it here, as well.

The banana and oleander are just starting to come into their own.  When summer comes and we're consistently hot, these guys go crazy!

Pots of Lemongrass flank the gate to the walled garden.  It requires a ladder to cut any for cooking, but it's really "all about the look."

At the front door, the Majesty palm is just starting to take off from the heat, as well.  This is a western exposure, so mostly shade, then blistering sun for a couple of hours in the late afternoon.  These containers get a lot of attention and turning, and some of the tougher things are specifically placed to block sun from burning the begonias and other delicate plants.  

A wider shot of the front door plantings.

Feel free to steal any ideas you'd like.  If you can't figure out particular plants from a photo, don't hesitate to ask.  (But please don't lift my photos without at least giving me credit.....)

Some Photos from the Big House Garden this Morning

We're midway through switching out the container arrangements for the summer, and have started switching out some of the annual color beds, as well.  As a result, it was a good morning for Chuck to roam around with the camera for a little while early this morning.

The breezeway is "bright shade," and is the most-used family entrance, so it's an area where we focus on some of their favorite colors and textures.  Here is Xanadu philodendron that we overwintered in the greenhouse, along with Kimberly Queen ferns, "Salmon with Eye" Butterfly Impatien, Torenia,  Heliotrope, and a Gold-Edged Ivy whose name I don't remember.              

Near the breezeway I hung this gothic planter last fall.  When looking out a bay window, the view is of this big blank brick wall, so the planter serves its purpose well.  The planting box itself is actually pretty small (28 inches by about 8 inches deep), but I jammed it with plants so that it would really "make a statement" there. 

It has many of the same plants as the breezeway pots, plus a passionflower vine to climb up the trellis, as well as white scaevola, butter yellow million bells, and chenille plant.  I'll get more pictures as this flushes out through the season, but I think it's going to be pretty awesome!

 

In the gazebo near the pool, we have a situation with four planters that need to look the same but have noticeably different light conditions.  We came up with the solution of putting them on wheels, so we can move them every couple of weeks.  Here is one pair, with Kimberly Queen ferns, those salmon butterfly impatiens, and assortment of ferns we've overwintered, Algerian ivy, and some Rex begonias.

Above those planters (on each side of the gazebo), I just got new hanging baskets.  The photo is deceptive, since you can't get a good feel for how HUGE this baskets are.  They are 26 inches across, and each one holds one of those gigantic bags of potting soil for starters!  Then it takes 22 plants to fill each basket (the smallest in a four inch pot, the largest in a 12-inch pot of its own.)

Here's a wide shot of the gazebo to give a feel of just how beautiful this space is.  We try to bring the colors from the surrounding space into the container arrangements.

Perhaps the most challenging of the containers are the ones which hang off the sides of the footbridge that crosses the creek.  Again, it's hard to grasp the size of this group, but each side has four baskets, each 60 inches long.  That means "one" container arrangement that is 20 feet long.  The challenge with installation is really weather dependent, since two of us need to stand on ten foot ladders placed in the creek, and then we have an assembly line of people handing plants over the railing.  Again, these haven't "flushed out," but I'm hoping they will grow as I've imagined them. 

Just as a footnote, we line these baskets with a natural dried moss basket liner from Kinsmon.  When they get wet, they reconstitute to give this pretty cool look.  They can be a bit of a nightmare to work with the first time, but we've figured out lots of little details that make it easier.  If anybody is trying these for the first time, I'm happy to share some of the tricks that work for us if they are helpful.  And, as always, feel free to steal ideas if they appeal to you! 

Some Early Spring Containers

The weather today was just delightful, sunny and around 70.  It was one of those days that really brings the promise of spring.  Today was one of those days when I really appreciated being able to spend my days outside!

Winter containers are tough to make look good when the weather is as bad as it's been this year; I was thrilled to see some of the containers "coming into their own" this morning!  This first one is "Ultima Morpho" pansies planted in a little rustic basket.  I like the contrast of the very rustic container in such a formal setting by the pool.

The container below is in the middle of a wooded area, surrounded by camellias that have passed and azaleas that have not yet started to bloom.  It's actually a new container, but I think it looks ancient.  Patti "tweaked" the flowers a couple of days ago, mixing the newly sprouted daffodils with more of the "Morpho's".

This one is the "Jenny Brook" wallflower, in a little terra cotta pot with "Antique Shades" violas.

The pot below is in the lower garden, and the cryptomeria and ivy have been there for a few seasons.  The pansies add just a little burst of fun color to a very formal arrangement, I think.

Cold Weather Gardening

This week's cold snap has put a bit of a damper on the gardening chores that normally get done at this time of year. Since the garden at the Big House is so flower-intensive, it's a blessing that we're able to do some things in January and February.

This week we got a bunch of pruning done (clip for a couple of hours, defrost for 15 minutes, clip for another couple of hours, etc.), and then spent one full day thinking about the warmer weather to come.

When the wind is howling, these are the days when I fully appreciate my job. What a treat to spend some time in the glass house potting up brugmansia cuts, repotting orchids, and such. We typically will buy some things for summer containers at this time of year, pot them up and let them grow out for a few months, so they're lush when they go into the containers in April.

A Few Cool Weather Containers

In the walled garden, we tend to plant edibles in the few containers that are there. Here is a Hick's Yew that will go into the landscape in spring, surrounded by spinach for picking during the next couple of months. At the pool, "Spring Bouquet" Viburnum, surrounded by "Miracle" heuchera, "Liberty Bronze" snapdragons, variegated ivy, and "Delta True Yellow" pansies

Across the pool, we've repeated some of the same fillers around the cryptomeria, and added "Bull's Blood" beets. The tree will be part of a new perimeter border in the spring, and the ivy stays in these pots indefinitely.

Next to the garage, here is the same cryptomeria (part of the same border ultimately), with "Whipcord" arborvitae and variegated aucuba. The "Whipcord" seems to like life in a container far better than in the ground, so it just gets moved from pot to pot over the course of the year. It's also better seen in an elevated position, since it just catches all the falling leaves when planted in a bed!

Like lots of people, we have a tremendous number of Leyland Cypresses that were planted at the edge of the property ten years ago, and they're slowly starting to fail. They're such a beautiful plant when used correctly, and it kills me to see how they're always jammed into the "builder's special" privacy row! It's never a case of IF they will fail, it's just a question of WHEN they'll fail. We're going to use some of these cryptomerias to start replacing the ones which fail in one area, eventually replacing the privacy screen with an assortment of evergreens, rather than the great wall of leylands.

Winter Containers

Obviously a major part of what I do at work is containers, both at the big house and in the penthouse garden. Since the penthouse is such a harsh environment to grow almost anything, the containers change very little during the winter. There are some tiny containers that come and go seasonally, but for the most part, the plantings up there are permanent.

In the garden at the big house, we just finished putting together the winter containers (there are 58 of them). Here are some photos, though most of the arrangements haven't "flushed out" yet. I'll post more photos in a few weeks, once they're looking a little more full.

The top container is part of a grouping of three. For the winter, the largest pot is anchored with a cryptomeria "Sekkan sugi", the middle one is a variegated acuba, and the smallest of the three is this arborvitae called "Whipcord." It's a favorite container conifer of mine, great for shade in the summer, but can take full sun in the winter.

The second photo is "Black Dragon" cryptomera, variegated boxwood, flowering kale, two different types of dusty miller, "Miracle" heuchera, and dianthus. The Black Dragon, heuchera, and dianthus will all go out into the landscape in the spring.

The bottom container is pretty simple this year; just the variegated boxwood with pansies (Delta "Apple Cider Mix"). These containers are right next to beds filled with more of the same pansies, so we try to pull that same color into the other container for continuity.

6120 Pansies

Copperfield Shades, above Persian Medley

Apple Cider Mix, above

Six Thousand, One Hundred Twenty.....

That's how many pansies have been delivered this week for planting in the winter beds at the big house. I have to admit it's pretty amazing when it's all in place, but for the time being, it's more than a little overwhelming!

That being said, I'm really pleased with the mixture we've used this season. "Mrs." really likes the antique shades, which aren't always the strongest bloomers. As a result, I've spent the past couple of years trying to find a good mixture that uses those tones while still performing well.

In the beds I'm mixing Delta Apple Cider Mix three-to-one with Delta Premium Persian Medley. So far about half of the beds are installed, and I'm very happy with the look.

We're testing another mixture this year in some of the containers; so far I'm thrilled with the look, and will keep you posted about our luck with it. Skyline "Copperfield Shades" (top photo) seems to be more peachy colors than the others; if it performs well this year, it might be the primary pansy we use next winter.

Wish me luck! They are having a big family party on Sunday, which means the pansies need to be finished by Saturday! We're more than half done, so I'm not worried yet....

An Inspirational Collection of Containers

During yesterday's visit to Atlanta Botanical Garden, I saw this arrangement of terra cotta pots, which I thought was particularly impressive. What's even better is that the pots are placed to block the view of a pretty ugly electrical box that is used for the concerts ABG occasionally has on the great lawn.

The combination of burgundy-blacks with chartreuse green is pretty neat, if you ask me. The best part is the ABG habit of listing the component plants, so I've put that on here, as well.

(People who know me realize that my standard "uniform" is a somewhat rumpled untucked shirt......), part of my middle aged rebellion!