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Showing posts with the label bedding plants

Getting to know Coleus - Edged Leaf vs Veined Leaf Sun vs Shade - March 2024

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Resist the lure of the big box nursery store.  That's something that I'm trying to live-by this Spring.  And, something I'll need to remind myself when it comes to containers.  The past few years, I've picked up some bedding annuals from the orange big box store.  Same with some of the plants that go into our various containers.  One of those has been coleus.  I've used it in containers - but not as a bedding plant where I've installed it as an annual in mass.   Here's a post about our large, rectangular front porch container from the 2021 season that includes some two-toned coleus .   Over the years, I've admired coleus as a bedding plant in some municipal applications (like in large, island beds in Downtown Downers Grove) where they've planted one variety in mass.   I also have come back a few times to this garden tour on the S&K Greenhouse YouTube Channel where Justin (the S&K Nursery guy) visits the home garden of Bruce Duncan .  Justin a

Elephant Ear Foliage - Tropicals As Bedding Plants - September 2023

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A brief, visual update on a few of the Elephant Ear bulbs that I planted in the landscape as bedding plants - lending a tropical vibe to the garden (underneath the kitchen windows).  I last posted about these in July when the foliage was just showing up and unfurling .  Here, below is what they look like currently - in early/mid September.  Some of the leaves are REALLY big. Are they the largest leaves we've ever had?  I'm not sure, but they sure look like the largest - compared to these previous giants .   The bulbs in the corner container are growing big leaves, too.  See below: Next year, I'd like to try the black-stemmed version that I spotted at the Morton Arboretum earlier this Summer, but if I can't find those, I'll still turn to these traditional Esculentas as I've made them a 'seasonal' addition to our garden - in both containers and in the ground.  Maybe next year they'll go over by the Disneyland Roses to fill in some of those gaps, too.

Dusty Miller Annuals - Zone 5B - August 2023

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Yesterday, I posted some photos showing the French Marigolds that I planted as bedding plants in our front porch bed/border and mentioned that some volunteer Dusty Millers arrived to change the look of that curved bed.  Last year, I planted 36 small Dusty Millers in front .  As annuals.    They're hardy down to Zone 7 - by all accounts .  But here in Zone 5B?  We had a bunch of them come back for year two.   When I say a 'bunch of them', I really mean a BUNCH OF THEM. I planted those French Marigolds across the front of the bed.  And today?  I can't see half of them.   See below for the current state of this front porch bed and how vibrant the Dusty Millers - planted in 2022 in Zone 5b - are today: There are French Marigolds under there.  Somewhere. See below for a peek at the edge where the Marigolds run into these.   Dusty Millers are grown for their white, ornamental foliage.  They provide a little Mediterranean vibe to the garden.  But, I am discovering that they al

French Marigolds As Bedding Plants Update - August 2023

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This year, I planted a couple of flats of Dwarf French multi-color Marigolds that arrived as plugs from the Home Depot as bedding plants across the front of our front-porch bed.  They come in flats of four eight packs and I think I put down a couple of them.  Maybe 60 of them-or so.    Below is a look at their current state - across the front porch bed: They've REALLY put on some size in the past few weeks.  Peek here at this post from mid-June that shows them when I was digging out that front natural edge .   And, for even more contrast, check out this photo below showing Spring-time (right when I planted them) when the tulip foliage was still hanging around: I've planted many things over the years along this front border, but I think I am coming back to these multi-color marigolds.  First...they're orange.  Love that.  Second... they're French - which we first saw at Luxembourg Gardens .   I planted these all the way across the front, but the Dusty Millers from last y

Getting To Know Morton Arboretum Fragrance Garden Seasonal Beds - August 2023

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I had to pick up one of the kids at the Morton Arboretum recently had had a little bit of time to get some steps in and decided to go see the Fragrance Garden up by the Thornhill Center on the West side of the Arboretum .  It is a spot where you can park pretty close and get to see some beds and containers on a quick little, easy walk.  A couple of years ago, I was in this same garden and posted some thoughts and photos here .  At that time, I was struck by the bedding plants and combinations they had in what felt like a very shady garden (which...is a lot like our own garden).    It was from that experience that I said (to myself) that I needed to think about using annuals beyond the container - as bedding plants - in the shade.  In fact....that was one of my 2023 to-do items and the push behind all of the annuals that I planted this year including some Lobelia, Begonias, Impatiens, Polka Dot Plants .  The beds at the Morton Arboretum have inspired me prior to that shade garden visit.

Wave Petunias Planted In Backyard Bed - May 2023

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A couple of weeks back,  I showed off some of the most significant annual bedding planting that I've done in our backyard that included a bunch of shade-loving annuals like impatiens and begonias among others.  Number 25 on my 2023 to-do list was to use annuals beyond the container and with the shade annuals, I was feeling pretty good.  But, I also have a more sun-filled border near the kitchen window that I decided to try some other bedding annuals.  I poked around to try to figure out the difference between traditional petunias, supertunias and wave petunias.  Turns out, Wave are 'spreading' and are the best for bedding.  I picked up four of these Easy Wave Lavender Blue Sky Wave Petunias and stuck them in close to the border in a staggered planting. These have a spread of more than a foot, so I'm hoping that these will fill in the spaces in between and put on a nice little blueish-purple show this Summer: In the photo above, you can see the three Lucky Charm Anemon

Shade Annuals Planted in Landscape Lobelia, Begonias, Impatiens, Polka Dot Plants - May 2023

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The way that I think about gardening is that you have to have a systemic approach to planning and planting that is paired with a secondary, supplemental approach to zhuzh'ing things during the growing season.  That systemic approach means trees and shrubs and even perennials.  (I need to do more evergreen shrubs....just a self-reminder.) But that supplemental zhuzh'ing is something that I've mostly done through division and some bulbs.   I suppose that's the difference between a landscaper and a gardener, right?  A landscape gets it all planted and is satisfied.  A gardener will work the garden all year long.  A plantsman?  That's for another post. One of the things that I've talked about over the years is how to use annuals in the landscape.  The only place that I've successfully planted them is out front in the porch beds.  In the back?  Nothing. Last year, I included the idea of using shade annuals and dark foliage .  But, I really didn't move on it.