Why I Oughta...

Yesterday, I showed photos of the 76 Titan Blue Lavender Halo Vinca annuals that I added to our front porch bed where I hope they'll grow into a carpet of color.  In service of the notion of 'repetition', I opted to plant the same annuals down in the island bed to try to carry that same color further forward and bring those two plantings together visually.   I went with 36 vinca down there.  Below are a few photos showing how the 36 Titan Blue Lavender Vinca are planted in between the Red Wizard Sun Coleus and the existing Ajuga groundcover that abuts the sidewalk.  First up are side-views: And, here below is the curb-view: Last year, I didn't have luck with the flowering annuals in this bed, so I'm hoping that these Titan Vinca will fare better.  

Last year, I planted a new (to me) annual bedding plant in our front porch beds:  Madagascar Vinca.  64 plugs .  They worked really well and filled in the front of the border with a carpet of pink color by the end of July .  I mentioned in that post that ten-or-so died immediately, so the total was closer to 54 plants that filled-in the bed.  They were pink - which was a result of just *having* to choose something.   This year, I found flats of purple Vinca at Wannemakers.  Titan Lavender Blue Halo.  Here, below, is a photo of the plant tag and one of the flats: Here's what Ball Seed says about Titan Lavender Blue Halo Vinca : Big, bold and better branching vincas! Titan is up to 2 weeks faster to flower than open-pollinated vincas, with superior branching and big flowers in all the top-selling colours. The most uniform F1 vinca series on the market shows off flowers that are up to 50% larger than O.P. types in cooler temperatures. Faster to...

Last year, I planted ten small white Polka Dot Plants (Hypoestes) in be-twix the Boxwoods underneath the Linden Espalier.   I sort-of bought them on a whim and stuck them in there because they do well in shade.  By August, I was declaring them a [gardening win ] because of how they brightened up a dark space in the garden and were mostly care-free.   At Wannemakers recently, I picked up a full flat of Confetti White Hypoestes Polka Dot plants.  That's 40 annuals.   See below for the flat and plant tag.  I wanted to use these as bedding plants (on my 2026 list) and talked about how planting these in a couple of spots in the backyard can help bring that notion of repetition - (which...ahem...improves garden legibility).   I haven't planted all forty just yet, but here's how I've started with them below.  I started with seventeen (17) under the Lindens.   Along the southside, I planted two little pockets of bright white....

Last year, I planted three Inferno Coleus in the corner patio bed and as they grew up (and out), I really loved them.  I called them a [garden win] specifically.   This year, I found some small quarts at Wannemakers of a new (to me) variety - Talavera Moondust Coleus.  See below for a few photos showing the tag and the speckled foliage.  It is easy to see why this one jumped off the bench, right? Here is how Ball Seed describes Talavera Moondust Coleus : Sun-tolerant varieties maintain color and foliage patterns in both sun and shade conditions. These late-flowering selections are tidy, non-bolting plants in the garden. Sun-tolerant.  Check. Maintains color and foliage pattern in sun.  Check. Late-flowering.  Check. Non-bolting.  Check.  What's not to love? Below is a photo of the back of the plant tag where they mention it is 'well-branching' and 'stunning' and 'rich'. Select Seeds adds these details in their product listing : Unsurpassed i...

One of the [garden wins] that I hung on the scoreboard last year was planting coleus as a bedding plant in the garden.  Both in the front yard (island bed) and in the back ( corner patio bed ).  Last year, I planted twelve Versa Gold Coleus as bedding annuals up front in the Island bed and they filled-in and put on a great foliage show all season.  I was pretty good about dead-heading them and pinching off the flowers to keep the growth focused on the foliage.  I put on my 2026 to-do list to use more annuals (again) including coleus and talked about repetition via annuals.  More on that soon.   But, for the Island bed, I picked up sixteen (16) small Wizard Red Velvet Red Coleus plants: Wizard Red Sun Coleus is described by Ball Seed as : Compact, mid-sized foliage plant with upright habit is ideal for mixed containers, planters, baskets and landscapes. Easy-care plants are late flowering, extending their landscape value. These are likely to be a bit ...

A few days ago, I posted a couple of photos showing how I was using some frost covers to try to extend the dahlia-growing season just a little bit after the first 'hard frost' had arrived in our Zone.   I only have a couple of frost covers, so I wasn't covering *everything* in the garden, which lead to some things suffering from the cold.  The most-prominent plants that took the biggest hit from the frost is the coleus that I've planted as bedding plants.  In front and back.  Below are a few photos showing the 'morning after' - where the frost worked FAST to kill the Sun King coleus in the front yard island bed.   And, the large colony of Inferno Coleus in the backyard, near the patio died back, too: I'll leave this stand for a while and I assume the next time the frost arrives will be permanent for the Winter.  And, this will decline even more without the need to cut-back.  Most of the rest of the perennials weren't affected as significantl...

This year, I planted three small Inferno Coleus annuals in the newly (this year) expanded bed at the corner of our back patio .  This was the second year of growing this red foliage plant as a bedding annual.  Last year, I put them in the front yard island bed.  By August, I was declaring them a big success as they grew into big mounds of bright color that contrasted with everything green back there.  #6 on my 2026 to-do list was to grow 'more coleus as bedding plants' , so this was in service of that goal.  Last Fall, I wrote this "In Praise of Coleus As A Bedding Plant" post and this year, I've become even more of a fan.   Below is a look at the current state of this coleus.  I let it flower and 'go to seed' late in the season after pinching off the blooms for months earlier this Summer.  The color is striking: For Fall 2025 and the 2026 season, I'd like to remember to do a few things: 1.  Expand this bed this Fall using the 'lazy b...

Earlier this season, I planted three small Inferno Coleus plants in the small bed that sits at the corner of our back patio .  I had grown Inferno in the front yard last year and wanted to grow it again.  Have a look at the photo below - showing the late-Summer view of what started as three small plants.  I wanted to grow more coleus as bedding annuals in the beds , so I'd call this a success.  (#6 on my 2025 to-do list this year .) I'll grow Inferno again next year.  Maybe in multiple spots - as a form of 'repetition' to help improve 'legibility' with some colorful annuals.   Last Fall, I expanded this bed a bit.  I'll look to grow it even more this Fall with my 'lazy bed' method using cardboard, compost and municipal biosolids.  

This planter outside of an office building has a nice legibility to it:  annual vinca (Madagascar Vinca) in the front, sort-of spilling over the front ledge of the bed (or garden box), backed by a white-flowering waxy Begonia.  In the corners are Purple Heart Tradescantia (which has a trailing habit).  Behind the begonias (and taller) is a row of Salvia.  And, in the center?  Some tropical-looking cannas.  Nice combination that serves as inspiration for an all-annual island bed.  

About five weeks (or so) ago - in Mid-June - I planted 64 plugs of annual Vinca.  Or, some call it Madigascar Periwinkle .   These were in the newly (as of last Fall) expanded front bed that I call our 'front porch bed'.  I've grown various flowering annuals up there.  To varying degrees of success.  Marigolds have worked .  Dusty Millers went nuts (and came back partially a second season).  One year, I did begonias and sedum.  The sedum looked great, but wasn't hardy .  Petunias failed .  Sun Patients didn't work, either .   I'm NOT EXACTLY sure how I ended up with pink (light purple?) annual vinca, but in one of those garden-center-induced hazes, I found myself sitting in the driveway with a couple of flats of these annuals.  I planted them and hoped for the best.  At first, they were stinkers.  A number of them (maybe 10?) up-and-died.  The rest just sort of were blah.   But then...time wo...

Six-weeks-or-so ago, I planted twelve (12) Versa Gold coleus in the front yard Island bed.  They came in six-packs as small little plugs .  Fast-forward to this week, below is a photo showing the current state of the coleus (as bedding plants).  They've filled-in, puffed-up and branched-out.  I pinched the buds off of these about a week ago to help them continue to bush-out a little bit.   I have come at really like coleus as bedding plants in this bed - as this is my second year with them.  

I'm a sucker for silver foliage.  And, the best bang-for-my-buck comes via a flat of Dusty Miller annuals from the big box nursery.  Eight plants for four bucks.  I put all eight in the corner bed of the back patio.  These are in the 'lazy bed extension' that I created last Fall.  (note to self:  expand this bed even more this Fall.) I can use these in cut flower arrangements later this Summer and early Fall.  They did really well out in the front porch bed a few years ago, so here's hoping they'll like this spot, too. 

We're on a streak of posts about annuals as bedding plants in the garden and that continues today showing this small cluster of White Polka Dot annual plants that I planted in between the boxwoods that are living at the base on the Greenspire Linden espaliers.  This is a most-full-shade spot, so Polka Dot plants seemed to be just the thing that could brighten up this spot.   I've used Polka Dot plants before as annuals in the border around the Tree Swing tree .  This time, I bought eight ten (10) white ones.  Below are a couple of photos showing them as they went in the ground: 

Number 6 on my 2025 to-do list this year was to 'use more coleus as bedding plants'.  That idea was based on the success that I had with some Inferno coleus that I planted in our front yard island bed last season.    Earlier this year, I planted a dozen Crimson Gold Versa coleus (full sun coleus) in the front island bed.  And, a trio of Inferno Coleus that I bought at The Growing Place in the backyard corner patio bed.  I figured I'd try at least one more this year as a bedding plant.  So....when I've been on the look-out for a unique one to try.  I came across a placed called Patyk's Farm up near Richmond .  It is on the south side of Route 173, a few miles out of Richmond as you head towards Woodstock.  It is a medium-sized family farm operation with four-or-five greenhouses and TONS of plants.  I arrived right when they were closing, so I didn't spend too much time there.   I did, however, find this unique coleus and bough...

I've posted a number of times about groundcover and how I've evolved as a gardener when it comes to planting groundcover.  It was (for me) an afterthought.  (Unfortunately...the same could be said about conifers, but I've begun to change that fact).   The first groundcover that I 'got to know' and planted was Ajuga 'chocolate chip'.  I've planted it in a number of spots and will continue to add it when I can find it.  Over the years, I've added some sedums ( Angelina, a variegated variety and something that I've grown to love: John Creech Sedum .   But, I've also begun to get smarter about using annuals as bedding plants over the years.  And, thanks to some of the garden tours I've watched on YouTube has lead me to think about annuals as groundcover.  I've done *some* of that with Coleus.  And...  #6 on my 2025 to-do list was to use more coleus as a bedding plant.   And, #16 on my list was to 'keep going on groundcover'...

Last year, I planted three Inferno coleus in the island bed in our front yard after seeing them on a garden tour video and I wasn't disappointed.  By October of last year, I wrote a post praising sun-tolerant coleus as bedding plants and pledged to plant more this year.  I even included 'planting coleus as bedding plants' as one of my 2025 to-do items .   With the larger-scale planting of Crimson Gold Coleus in the (newly expanded) Island Bed in front, I decided to not walk-away-from Inferno coleus.  I bought three quart-sized pots of the red/brown annual and planned to put them into the expanded back patio corner bed.    Last Fall, I used the 'lazy bed extension' method to expand the corner bed adjacent to our back patio .  That created some new planting space that I can fill this season.   That spot gets decent sun - for our backyard at least.  It gets the MOST sun, I suppose, of anywhere in our backyard.  Thus, it seemed l...

I'm not drawn (normally) to pinks in the garden.  Or reds.  But, blues and purples?  They seem to jump off the nursery table when I see them.  At least, recently.    See the photo at the top of this post?  Little purple flowers on a trailing habit annual?  Yes, please.    That is Verbena x Lascar 'Black Velvet'.  And, I bought three of them.  What are they?  From this listing on Magic Valley Gardens : Verbena ‘Lascar™ Black Velvet’ adds rich, velvety drama to your garden with clusters of deep magenta-purple blooms that stand out beautifully against bright green foliage. This early-flowering variety features a mounded to trailing habit, making it perfect for mixed containers, hanging baskets, and sunny borders. With medium vigor and excellent weather tolerance, it delivers consistent color throughout the season. A favorite for gardeners seeking bold color and reliable, low-maintenance performance in summer plantings. Flower...