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Showing posts with the label patio gardening

Container Juniper in Zone 6A - Winter Bronzing With Silver Tips - January 2024

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Planted all the way back in 2019, we have a Juniper shrub planted in a large yellow, upright container on our patio.  It has been there for five (19, 20, 21, 22, 23) growing seasons and is something that just sort-of exists on the patio.  At least...that's the way I think about it - meaning...that I do virtually NOTHING to it all year long. Here's what it looked like in the Fall of 2020 - when it was green and the tips of the juniper were emerging around the edge of the container, but not by much.  All Summer and Fall, it is a nice green color.   But, come Winter...something happens to this shrub that (at first...) I thought was decline.  It turns an almost rusty-red color.  The first time that happened - in 2020 - I figured the shrub was done .  But, come Spring...it green'd right up. In every subsequent Winter, it has done the same.  Green in Summer and Fall.  Rusty-red in Winter.   Here's what it looked like a little over a year ago - December 2022 .  In that photo,

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.

Firesticks Succulent - Five Years Now - August 2023

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Earlier this Summer, the small Firesticks succulent (is it a cactus? I think so?) made its annual migration from indoors to outdoors.  First...staying in the shade for a couple of weeks.  Then, moving to a little bit more sun.   This container-grown cactus lived in the basement all Winter and seemed to come out the other side in decent shape.  I barely watered it and it barely grew.  But...When I moved it outside and gave it some water, it started to take-off again. The last time that I captured a photo of this Firesticks succulent was more than a year ago - February 2022 .  It continues to grow and the current state is below: It is easy to see that there is a ton of new, fresh growth.  Those yellow-going-on-red tips are the tell.   It seems happy in this small container and I'm not in a hurry to move it to something bigger since I'm seeing so much growth.  I suppose that's something that I need to start to look at and figure out if it would benefit from a larger home.   It

Spring Grove Ginkgos + Brookside Geraniums Planted - May 2023

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Yesterday, I posted about the removal and transplant process for a pair of mature(ish) PJM Rhododendrons from the two small beds on either side of our back stoop to the far reaches of our yard.  Back in late April, I posted about this new (to me) Witches' Broom dwarf Ginkgo tree called Spring Grove Ginkgo .  Spring Grove is a small, upright that has those fan-shaped Ginkgo leaves that turn bright yellow before they fall in Autumn.   They something that I haven't seen before, so I thought they'd be a great fit for the back stoop beds - as Rhododendron replacements.  The new Ginkgo's are NOT evergreens, but the uniqueness of them feels like a good trade-off.   I bought a pair of Spring Grove Ginkgos that were in 10# nursery containers and planted one in each of the stoop beds.  Below is the north bed - a few things to note:  The Spring Grove Ginkgo is much smaller than the Rhododendron that was there.  Second, the Angelina Sedum has continued to grow.  (Which...I finall

Living With The Land - At Home - Hydroponic Exploration - February 2023

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It is well established (in our house) that the best (or at least...my favorite) attraction in the entire Vacation Kingdom is in Epcot called Living with the Land .  What's that?   You haven't been on it? Well...let me tell you about it.  Or...actually...let ChatGPT tell you about it.  I asked her this: Can you describe the attraction at Disney's Epcot center that is called Living with the Land? Why would someone call it their favorite ride at disney? Here's what she said: Living with the Land is a slow-moving boat ride attraction located in the Land Pavilion at Epcot Center in Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. The ride takes guests on a journey through various indoor and outdoor agricultural environments, showcasing different methods of sustainable farming and food production. During the ride, guests can observe a variety of farming techniques, including hydroponics, aquaculture, and integrated pest management. There are also several dioramas that show different ecos

Getting To Know The Thailand Giant - February 2023

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I've been TRYING to do more with tropicals outside over the years.  One of them that I've had the MOST success with - in multiple years - are what I call "Elephant Ears".  Colocasia.  I've grown them in containers a few times and even had some pretty big (or so I thought!) ones like this one in 2021 .   The folks at The Growing Place sent out an email that included some new/interesting plants for 2023 and it included a look at a Colocasia .  But...not just any.  This one is "gigantea".  It is also know as the 'Thailand Giant'.   Below is a photo showing this giant elephant ear off via The Growing Place ( Source ): That sure is...something.   Pretty big.  Walters Garden has this to say : To say that this plant will dwarf any plant you already own would be putting it mildly! ‘Thailand Giant’ is much larger than C. gigantea. Its glaucous green leaves can measure a whopping 5' long x 4' wide each. Full grown plants typically reach 9ft tall,

Container Juniper Shrub Winter Dormancy - Zone 5 - December 2022

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For the past few years (planted in 2019), we've had a creeping/crawling Juniper shrub planted in a patio container out back.  I put it in this container and attempted to prune it a little bit and wire it up when I was focused on trying my hand at bonsai .   Two years later (Spring of 2021), I was seeing some wire damage and (for now) abandoned the project .  My thought was....let this thing grow a bit more, then let's revisit it for pruning and shaping as it is more mature.   On a recent walk in the backyard, I came across (or...really...'noticed') this shrub in the container and I was (temporarily) alarmed.  Look at it in the photo below.  It is maroon-ish/green.  Or, I suppose, one could view it as greenish/maroon-ish/brown-ish/grey-ish?  Is that a color? (That is a lot of 'ishes'.) I snapped that photo and then went looking back in the garden diary here.  I found this post from two years ago - December of 2020 .  Good news:  it was (then) the same color as to

Mexican Feather Grass Still Green Post-First Frost - November 2022 - Zone 5b

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I planted an ornamental grass in one of our back patio containers this Summer and seems that I failed to document what the variety was/is when I installed the rest of the flowers.  Here's a link to a Summertime post showing the labels from a bunch of the plants in the containers, but it didn't include the ornamental grass in the center of the large, round ceramic container.  Based on poking around online, I'm *pretty sure* that it is a Mexican Feather Grass - Nassella .   I'm posting about it, not just to document it in the [garden diary], but rather because of the state it is currently in - post frost in late November.  See below for a photo of the container including this Mexican Feather Grass still showing a lot of green blades: Nassella Mexican Feather Grass is hardy down to just Zone 7 , so perhaps I'm wrong with the identification.  Listen...everything else.  Literally EVERYTHING ELSE in my garden (aside from the Autumn Ferns) have shriveled up and reacted to

Red Robin Cherry Tomatoes - July 2022

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Yesterday, I posted some photos of our (very productive) bell pepper plant:  a King Arthur Sweet Bell Pepper variety .   I mentioned that we grew a tomato vine last year and it spilled over/out of our patio raised bed.   This year, at the Morton Arboretum Plant Sale, my Mom showed me a new (to me) idea:  a miniature tomato plant.   This is the Red Robin Cherry Tomato .  And, in the photo below, you can see how has thrown off a ton of small, cherry tomatoes: Here, below, is the tag from the plant: Park Seeds has a nice listing for it here .  This is a bush tomato.  There's no vine.  It grew a small bush and is fruiting all over the place.  It seems that this one is a quick-grower and will put all the tomatoes up at once.   Ever want a true 'container tomato'?  This Red Robin has worked really well for us.  Just like the King Arthur Sweet Bell Pepper , this feels like a re-buy next year.  

Redrum Purple Fountain Grass - Patio Container - July 2022

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Last year, I planted a fountain grass in the big cast iron urn.  It was a Pennisetum - but named 'Fireworks '.  This year, I brought home another purple fountain grass and put it in a container.  Just...it was a different grass AND a different container.  The grass is Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum'.  See below for the nursery container.  And...importantly, you'll see that when it comes to hardiness, it goes down to *just* 30 degrees.  That means...for me (Zone 5b), this is an annual.   I decided to put this in - by itself - a white container that lives on our back stoop.  A full sun spot.  I planted it about three weeks ago. How is it doing?  Seems to be happy.  See below for a look at the first flower plume that has emerged from the crown.  Nice, gently arching stem that I hope more will follow.  

Patio Containers - One Color Each - July 2022

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The past few years, I've used a tricolor combination in the 'corner container' on our back patio that was inspired by beds in Luxembourg Gardens in Paris.  Red, Orange and blue/purple.  Last year it was marigolds, salvia and petunia .  Along with an Elephant Ear tucked into the corner for a little tropical flair.   This year, I went a different route - with a monochromatic scheme.  Well... actually since the foliage is green and the flowers are all white, this might *technically* be a complementary scheme.  But, I'm going to call it one-color.  I went this route with both the corner wooden container and the larger clay pot that we've had for 10 years or so. Let's start with the corner container.  I planted this with a combination of white flowering annuals and some foliage plants.  First, the flowers:  16 Catharanthus roseus - annual vinca. Those are the white flowers with red centers.  And 16 Easy Wave White spreading Petunias.   I also tucked in a pair of As

Shaggy Boxwoods By Patio - Pre-Shaping - June 2022

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One of the projects in the backyard that I've been eying since we arrived home from vacation is to clean up and shape the boxwoods that we have close to our patio in back.  They're pretty shaggy right now and have grown together a bit after being in the ground for four growing seasons.  You can see their current state as shaggy boxwoods below: A little history - these were planted in 2018.  And I pruned them for the first time in Spring of 2019 .  I haven't touched them since.   Why?  Because I found some inspiration both on the Web and in person.  First... these Jacques Wirtz cloud hedges that have grown together and are shaped in one big mass.  And then this mass of boxwoods that are in Memphis at the FedEx Worldwide Headquarters .   The Fall of 2019, they started to put on some size .   And a year later - Fall 2020 - they had grown even closer together .   It seems that the time has come to shape these, but (right now), I don't have shears.  Seems there are a couple

My Biggest Elephant Ear Leaf - Colocasia esculenta - Container Grown - August 2021

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Back in Spring, I planted a bunch of Colocasia esculenta corns in containers and even one in the patio-adjacent bed in our backyard.  I've grown them a number of times and I like the tropical vibe they lend to some of our larger containers.  Here's some from 2018 .  Some from 2019 .  I've also remarked about their trippy, almost hallucinogenic pattern on the top-side of the leaves .   This year, I think I've grown my largest plant that I've ever had in our containers.  Below, you can see the size of one of the leaves - my hand for reference.  Note:  I don't have tiny hands like our former president.  I *think* mine are normal.  I have to do more reading up on tropicals (and sub-tropicals) in containers - because every time I use one like these, I like it in our patio containers.  More to come on that - and something that I think I should put on my 2022 to-do list :  using more tropicals and sub-tropicals in my garden.

Patio Corner Container - Petunias, Marigolds and Salvia - June 2021

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Since our first (and only) visit to Luxembourg Gardens in Paris a few Summers back, I've planted this large(r) corner container with the same color combination that we first saw there and have used (mostly) the same trio of plants:  Red Petunias.  Yellow Marigolds.  Purple Salvia.   Last year, I used the same red petunias.  But, used yellow Zinnias and a perennial, more woody Salvia.  Here's a look at a different container that I planted with the remnants of the wooden corner box.   This year, I used this dark purple Vista Salvia and a yellow Marigold and even tucked in an Elephant Ear bulb into the corner.  Thus far, the elephant ear hasn't put up any growth but, it might lend a nice tropical vibe to the corner of this container box.   You will also note that in the photo above, the container is still naked lumber - and hasn't been stained just yet.  That's #4 on my 2021 to-do list that hasn't been done just yet. 

Wire Damage - Pre-Bonsai Trailing Juniper - March 2021

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 Back in October of 2020, I posted some photos showing a juniper cultivar that I have kept in a large patio container for the past few seasons and talked about how I had wrapped some wire around some of the limbs as I began to learn how to bonsai the past few seasons.  I overwintered this container both inside the screened porch and then, due to A LOT of fungus gnats, ended up moving it back outside. This is the same juniper that I posted snow-covered back in February that really got my brain going on bonsai for 2021, so when the snow melted, I immediately went and looked at the state of the tree.  And, it turns out, the wire that I wrapped on the tree (either in 2020 or 2019) was on far too long and too tight.  Because there's quite a bit of wire damage.  You can see it below, but it was on their so long that it was difficult to remove as the tree began to grow AROUND the wire. This is a tree that I'll move work pretty hard this year ( it is #2 on my 2021 Bonsai to-do list  a

A 2020 Miss: Staining the Patio Container - December 2020

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 I'm due for a final 2020 to-do list recap, but before I get to that full list, I wanted to put down a post here about just one item:  #12 - Paint/stain the Patio Wood Container.   Here's a link to a late-season (October) checkin on the list that at the time showed #12 being left uncompleted .  Here, below, is a photo of said wooden patio container and one of our larger glazed patio containers tucked in next to it.  And guess what?  It is STILL unstained.   I started this project back in Summer of 2019 - as it was an ask from Natalie. I used treated lumber and based on everything that I read, you're supposed to wait a while to let the treated lumber to breath on its own BEFORE staining it.  That meant that I let myself off the hook that first year.  But this year?  NO excuse.  Other than COVID, I guess. Posting this mostly to SHAME MYSELF into getting this back on the 2021 to-do list and to get it done in the Spring.  Nat wants it stained black - so I just need to get to th

Winter or Late Fall Conifer Damage - Container Gardening - December 2020

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Back in October of this year, I posted a photo of the new growth on this unknown conifer that is in a large container on our patio and remarked at how good it was doing this growing season .  I had overwintered this in our screened porch last year - which was OPEN to the elements, but it was protected from some of the harsher aspects of Winter including a little bit of the wind being cut down and a roof over the top of it.   I mentioned that I was going to bring this one in this season , too.  But, I was just outside and saw that I had forgotten to bring this one in and it now looks like this:  almost maroon-ish in color.   What is going on?  Drying out?  Sun scald?  Winter damage?  Seems a little early, doesn't it?   I'm going to bring this in to the porch TODAY and give it a little water to see how it responds.  

Unknown Juniper in Large Patio Container

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 On our back patio, we have a container with a small conifer that I'm not sure the cultivar.  I bought it last year and worked on it a little bit - as there is some wire on parts of it - but I'm not sure which kind of juniper it really is at this point.  I have two junipers - Youngstown and Chinese - that I have in containers that I planted in the ground .  My plan is to dig them up next Spring and give them another haircut/style.  My Bonsai journey has been one of buying some nursery stock initially and KILLING my first one.  In a matter of months.  Due to over-pruning it, I think.  As a result of that experience, I've kinda taken the 'lazy bonsai' route on these - by giving them an initial wiring up and then planting them (in their containers to restrict the roots) in the ground (or in this case in a larger container).  By next year, all three will hopefully able to handle a little bit of pruning. Here is the unknown Juniper that has grown nicely in the container

Glazed Patio Container - Zinnias, Salvia, Petunias - June 2020

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Here's one of our patio containers that we recently planted for the Summer.  It is a purple, yellow and red combination - which we've mirrored elsewhere - based on a bed we saw in Luxembourg Gardens in Paris.  This container has a larger Blue Salvia  (Salvia farinacea), a yellow Zinnia and in front a red Wave petunia. We've planted this large container every year - always different - but this feels like a nice combination of sun-happy annuals that should flower all season long. Notably, the Salvia (Salvia farinacea) is a perennial in warmer zones (8-10), but is treated as an annual up here in Zone 5b.  With the newly installed Eze Breeze windows in our screened porch, I'm wondering if we move our containers in there this Winter...if we'll get a little bit of a 'greenhouse effect' with the wind cut down?  Maybe this is a container that I should test to see if the Saliva will come back. I'll post a few more photos of our other containers on the pat

Back Stoop Rhododendrons Early Fall Bud Setting - 2019

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On the right is the southern Rhododendron and on the right in the image collage above is the northern stoop one.  They look different, don't they?  The one on the left is larger, taller, has less broned/curled edges.  And it also kinda looks a little brighter green, doesn't it? They looked different last Fall, too, when I applied Wilt-Pruf to one of them as a test .  And again this Spring when they came out of Winter .  What was most interesting to me is that NEITHER of these flowered this year.  Not a single flower.  Last Summer they flowered beautiful pink flowers .  See this post for the flowers , but also note how tiny they were last year.  They're really filled in that space more this year. They both set buds in the Fall, but just like our Flowering Cherry Tree and Saucer Magnolia in the front, we ended up with no flower show. The hard, cold Winter - including a long Polar Vortex - is likely to blame for those buds not blooming this year. These Rhododendrons