Showing posts with label Lemon Grass. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lemon Grass. Show all posts

Monday, July 6, 2020

Midwest Gardening: Decorative Plantings in Pots and Planters

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If you have been following my Midwest Gardening posts, you know that we started lots of flowers/plants from seeds and bulbs. July 2, I took lots of photos of the yard, pots, and gardens. I'll try and show what's working well in pots, and what isn't. 

oldnewgreenredo

The new pots out at the street get the HOT sun and wind all day. So far, they are doing pretty well. I did purchase a grass and the papyrus looking plant (left pot) and some succulent looking fern.  I'm disappointed the dark red spikey Cordyline in the right pot hasn't done much. I expected it to get larger, but it has been very hot. We did use drought resistant potting soil mixed with our compost dirt, in these pots and in the mailbox planter.

oldnewgreenredo

I stuck some Zinnia starts from seed in here, and they have been quite happy and a nice pop of color. 

oldnewgreenredo

The mailbox planter, I used less plants here this year. The purchased Salvia has done nothing. The small marigolds I chose a shorter version this year, and they are also quite small, though full of blooms. The Vinca vines(transplanted from ground cover) is finally starting to droop...so those were free. The wave petunias are stilted also. We are faithfully watering, but the sun has been fierce out here this year with the reduced pollution??? I'm not sure why this planter is slow this year.

oldnewgreenredo

Because I used seed start flowers, my garage walkway pots aren't in full bloom yet. They get sun for about 6 hours a day, so I always put Sweet potato vines in here. Bachelor Buttons are the grey spikey plants. I think those are bush sunflowers coming from seed starts. LOL, I can't remember.

oldnewgreenredo

There are three pots along the garage walkway. I alternate sweet potato vines (lime or purple) in these pots. The tall plants are tall marigolds from my plant starts.

oldnewgreenredo

The West shady side has two pots. Still waiting for their seed starts to begin blossoming. The rose on the trellis has been slow this year after being froze.

oldnewgreenredo

This pot is spilling over from the sweet potato vine. Wow, the conditions have been perfect for them early this year, hot and wet. I'm moving this into the flower beds with the perennials, as it was being swallowed by some Giant Hosta. 

oldnewgreenredo

This hanging pot with Mandevilla, the rope broke and then fell. In one night the potato vine in front was totally chewed off along with the Caladium. The beauty of pots is you can move them around. This one is safe now in a raised area and after a week, it's recovering! (Ps whatever ate it, didn't touch the Mandevilla) 
oldnewgreenredo

This large focal pot has lots going on---and everything is very happy, even in this very hot spot! Mandevilla, lime and purple Potato Vine, and a wave petunia. 

The box planter above is filled with marigolds and zinnias and more purple. I have some giant sunflowers and bush sunflowers growing inside the railing.



oldnewgreenredo

I do love the red, lime, and purples....!


Up on the porch a have a pot of Nasturtiums from seed going crazy. I had no idea how large these got as it's my first time growing them. Next year I will start them in small pots in the greenhouse, so I can transplant just a few here and there.

oldnewgreenredo
When cleaning the craft room, I donated my baskets, and let Goodwill store them. If I need a basket they are all cheap there. I did take some outside, this one had a florist's liner which I drilled holes in. 
oldnewgreenredo
It's filled with Alyssum, Caladiums and Nasturtiums. Again, I had no idea how huge they would get. My Caladiums all grown from bulbs are varied sizes, which I will sort and label for next year. One of the down sides of buying bargain multi-packs, it's hard to tell what you are getting. Considering one Caladium plant is at least $6.99 a bag of bulbs for $6.99 is very cost effective if you have the patience and space to start them in February.

The back yard is spilling with planters and pots of everything. It is cooler back here because of shade trees. A blessing and a curse with all the leaf/wingy dingys falling all the time. Silver Maples are very messy trees.
oldnewgreenredo

I bought lots of Impatiens to go with my seed plant starts.  I use railing pots along the vegetable garden to encourage pollinators. We are going to place these into the vegetable garden now, to encourage pollinators. 
oldnewgreenredo

 A 'crazy' close neighbor has a beehive now, with no water source or flowers in his yard, totally against our county codes here, so our yard is swarming with honey bees. Since I am deathly allergic, my time outside is limited now. But, I do love my flowers. 
Bees love the marigolds so I will continue do trays of seed starts of those.

oldnewgreenredo
Moving the flowers away from our seating areas should help. 
I found some of these tropical Mandevilla (with waxy leaves and red flowers) labeled tropical???quite reasonable for $3.99 and have used them everywhere. I hope to keep some in the house over winter. So far they flower constantly.

oldnewgreenredo

These large colorful pots without flowers will be fine around our seating areas. Plus we have pots of peppermint as bee deterrent to place around the deck.
oldnewgreenredo

The pots under our roof extension are really taking off. Impatiens and all the Coleus grown from seed are a colorful and total shady happy solution. I have a few Impatiens in there also, but I think the plants are plenty of color. I will try some potted ferns here next year.

oldnewgreenredo

The white Caladiums are startling. I will be labeling all the corms when I dig them up for storage this fall by leaf size and color. Downside, the dusty pots sides occur with every rain or when we put the sprinkler on here. I may whitewash these pots next year so it doesn't show. Or we may add pea gravel over the paver base. This is the first year for this 'new area' of total shade and our paver base path--so it is still a project in progress.

oldnewgreenredo

These smaller pots seem to keep the leaf size under control, or maybe it was the dirt? 

oldnewgreenredo

I even tried a mixture in a hanging pot. Turns out those are Giant Coleus...they were so small when I planted them it was hard to tell.
NOTE TO SELF: Come up with a better labeling solution for seeding trays.

This wall pot is happy here in almost total shade. Ceramic wall pots tend to boil  plants, so I have stayed away from them, but this one is so pretty.

oldnewgreenredo

Here an elephant ear(small bulb) and some small Caladiums ended up in a small pot. Again, I will be labeling everything ...lol. Small bulb Elephant Ear, is still huge!

oldnewgreenredo

These are the last pots of Caladiums that are so slow. I have to figure out where to put these and in what...LOL. Maybe on Monday after the holiday. 

oldnewgreenredo

Stargazer lilies...getting ready to bloom in these pots. They need to go in the ground along our north fence when it is completed. So many projects, so little time! 

PS, all my Hosta grown from sprig starts last year are thriving in the ground. Definitely worth coddling those assorted bags of starts. 12 assorted Hosta for $5.99 at a big box hardware store, not sure which one.

Happy JULY Gardening! Hope this helps give you some ideas or tips on pots and planters.


Thank you for any and all comments.
Finally I am able to reply to comments by using Chrome. So all you Mac users who have upgraded to Catalina---this might help the glitches on Safari  and Blogger!
















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Sunday, September 1, 2019

Midwest Gardening -Late August 2019 Part 2

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August 29, 2019. 

We scurried around battening down the hatches. Supposedly a storm brewed for later in the day. I took some photos, without pristine cleaned up flower beds. I've been deadheading heavy, because that's easy for me to do from a chair, or from cement/decking.


I hope I've captured some new views. Look at this sweet mini sunflower. I had planted four packets of different sunflower seeds.  The tall one was a red, but the wind today stripped it of petals. My crazy marigolds are a hardy bunch, from seedlings we grew ourselves.


We really didn't use the porch much---it was so hot! I quick moved the table planter back in the shade after the photo. Next week, we will morph into early Fall, here. 


I have sat at the table under the umbrella...I love being perched up there and watching the bird feeder.


This is my one SUNFLOWER success....it's not over 6 feet like usual, but it's blooming. There are 5 buds getting ready to open, on this one monstrously thick stalk. The leaves are huge!

Down the front walk...the trellis's are bare, (missing sunflowers) but the potato vines are still going strong. The Petunias are pooping out, Lobelia is long gone, and the marigolds are carrying the load. I bought some mums to go into the pots and fill in the holes.


Here's the backside of the mailbox planter...still going strong. 

Our front has quite a bit of shade...and my focal pots are still doing well. Look at the size of those Hosta flowers, and all the holes in the green/white Hosta---bugs. Giant Sedums are just beginning their flowering. 

Planters in the shade did well---I really have to watch that one on the right that gets a half day of sun, and keep it watered.


We haven't taken down the birdhouse branches yet...the burn pit is so full we have to wait for no wind to burn. Windy City applies to the burbs here do--as the wind crosses the plains with not much to stop it.

On the right side of the porch is the pond area...the planters there are carrying the whole show. Phlox finally did bloom.


On both sides. Phew, I thought the Phlox on this side was dying. No rose bloom either yet, think it's been too hot.



I pulled some weeds, missed the clover...and added some clarifier to the pond. Our bitty frog, he has grown and made a friend with the resin turtle. He has a few different places he sits, and he must have chased the second one ---off. I haven't seen him/her.


The East fence is full of pickles, dill, squash, marigolds (for the bees), and Day Lilies which are done blooming. Sigh. It was so hot, the blooms lasted only a few hours, but they were gorgeous and we had continuous blooming with all our rain.



Across the way along the house is a mess of Sweet Peas which are mostly 'peaing' now and not doing sweet blooms. The large leaves are some MUTANT Morning Glories that show up everywhere!


This little watering can is lost in the first year Hollyhocks and squash plants.


The last Hollyhock bloom. Small and white! I hope the new ones have some color. I will be dispersing the seed pods, once they are full dried. I might try some at the back pond. I love the pod shapes like bottom up Hazelnuts.


To the left is an area of sun and shade. Cosmos in the pot, drooped and bent low and are finally blooming.


This long 3 foot planter is simply gushing blooms, they have swallowed my fairy statue. 

On the porch stairs the Rex Begonia is battling the bugs, something is happily chewing on it. It needs to be sprayed with soap, and I will move it to the front porch, when it's debugged. The fountain grass was housed over winter, I will cut it back and try that again.

I've decided to use these Coleus from seeds in my planters in front with red mums...I'll do this on Monday. Holidays are for working, RIGHT?

There's some  beans I picked, the Impatiens are still happy everywhere. I didn't clean everything up with rain and wind on the way.

These are more Coleus we grew from seed. They are huge, and I will try and move them to the front in pots and planters. The little pots are Iceland Poppies from seed---that aren't doing anything???


The birdbath in the garden has peppers in pots around it,  and our only Black-eyed Susan.

The last of the Day Lilies!

This watering can has a new type of Coleus that is thick stemmed and very hardy.
It's copper-leafed...I love it.

I'm grouping plants next to the grill for protection from the supposed bad weather.

Left is our Lemon grass our natural mosquito repellent. 
This planter of Caladium (planted in April-finally is doing well. 

Same bag of Caladium corms, same dirt and this one is not! I use half composted dirt  and half name-brand potting soil for all the big pots. I'll have to see if the drain hole was plugged. 
There's more, but I will spare you! 
Another post in two weeks-Fall is around the corner.
PS, it's 9:30 pm and no storm...so we will water like crazy tomorrow!

Check List for next year-please tell me what you will be doing.
How did your perennials do? 
(Lost too many to talk about-again!)

How did your annuals do?
 (Plants did well, seeds did not due to very cold wet Spring.)

What won't you be planting again?
(I'm not doing Geraniums anymore.) 

What will you plant more of?
(I'll be planting more Sedum plants and more Hostas, they seem to survive everything-cold, wet, dry and heat)

I love all your comments, 
and I will be happy to try and answer questions!
















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