A Potted-Plant Potluck

Posted by Bluelines

Ideal for city-dwellers and garden neophytes, here's some easy and out-of-the-box (er pot) ideas from our favorite gardener.

Guest Blogger: Margaret Roach

What’s going to fill those pansy and viola pots once the weather heats up and they go by? For season-long color in containers, true annuals (like petunias or coleus) aren’t the only answer.

What I’m using for “annuals” in some tough low-light areas of my garden made their way to my pots from points as diverse as the shrub department of the local garden center; from my vegetable garden beds -- and even from my favorite mail-order houseplant nursery. The best part: All either were recycled from prior garden use…or will be recycled into another spot indoors or out when I’m done admiring them.

These baby fancy-leaf begonias just arrived from Logee’s Nursery in Connecticut, and are perfect for pots for a location in filtered light -- like under a tree. How many annuals for shade offer this kind of nonstop color? Come October, they’ll move inside with me as permanent members of the family (and summer outside again next year).

Begonia ‘Little Brother Montgomery’(below)

and ‘Marmaduke’ (above) are two of my favorites for their leaf color and texture among Logee’s many choices.

To add some structure to my grouping of pots in a semi-shaded spot with the begonias, I bought this little-leaf evergreen holly or inkberry, Ilex glabra. It is hardy in my zone, and I have a spot in the garden for it…but not till after summertime service. I’ve also potted up some small trees trees, like Japanese maples (below), with pansies and creeping perennials at their “feet.”

I always keep a few choice hostas ready to do duty as pot plants, carrying them over from year to year in the vegetable garden when it’s empty all winter, then lifting the big clumps out and popping them into shade pots. You can also buy some hostas for this use -- or one of many other perennials. It’s easy, showy, and the hostas don’t seem to mind being put on display. A favorite for this purpose: the classic vase-shaped blue ‘Krossa Regal (above)’. Variegated hostas are especially ornamental, too (like Hosta fluctuans ‘Sagae,’ below).

I plug in extra bits of golden moneywort, Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea,’ that have outgrown their place in the garden, or snippets of the gold Sedum called ‘Angelina’ (detail, above) to cascade over the rim. Little-leaf ivy (perhaps snatched from a hanging houseplant?) would be great, too. The salvaged snippets of Lysimachia don’t look like much now, but wait: Soon the top pot, about 30 inches wide, will be spilling over. And I didn’t buy a thing.

Heucheras, another perennial, make great potted subjects, and I love using the newer Euphorbias, like ‘Helena’s Blush’ and ‘Efanthia.’ Both would be showy all season at the base of taller things like my maple trees. Use your imagination: Curley parsley would make a similarly great edger below a taller plant, and the whole herb department is filled with good choices…and you can cut off bits for supper, too. Like I said, recycling at its best.

Pottery Sources:
Great mossy, old-looking terra cotta from Campo di Fiori; lead and stone lookalikes of wonderful quality from Campania. In both cases, these are wholesalers; use their dealer locator to find the seller near you.

Comments

[Bren]

Thanks for sharing - you are my favorite blog! The succulent perennials in your photos today are just fabulous!

[Margaret]

@Anne: ;-)
@Susan: The older I get (and I am a year past 29 or so now...) the more I get to like the idea of all my plant favorites cycling 'round the garden...in the ground, in a pot, as cut "flowers" (hosta leaves are the ultimate for that I think...so long-lasting...Martha always uses them as collars or "ruffs" at the base of her arrangements, or even alone). Enjoy.
@Layanee: Of course "shop local" is always the mandate...esp in these times environmentally and economically. Thanks for reminding us! But buying really good pots once...investment pots, that you will have all your gardening life...is also a way to conserve. So best of all: buy great pots locally. I am in my 10th year in my largest pots, and no signs of fading. Love hauling them out every year, like old friends.

[susan]

Hostas are one of my favorites, I would have never thought to use in containers, I will this year and then ad to my new garden this fall.

[Layanee]

Great ideas for pots but the two sources you did mention are two of the more expensive sources out there in the pot world. Might I suggest your local, independent garden center? The larger garden centers stock pots in all colors and shapes and often include the two great sources mentioned.

[Anne Reeves]

Margaret - you have such a great voice in your blog. Very accessible and sweet. I will be back to read more when I have time. Best, Anne Reeves

[lena]

your gardening blog is new to me, and i'm so glad to have found it! i'm a beginner gardener, and i'm sure i'll find lots of inspiration and answers over there...

[Elaine]

Hi, Margaret! It's great to see you as a guest blogger here. This is where I first learned about your blog. Your container ideas are great. I potted up some hostas and they are just coming up and I am looking forward to watching them grow. I love that I can move them around and show them off!

[Margaret]

@Erika: It's actually a VERY dark green from Benjamin Moore called Tuscany Green.

[erika - urban grace interiors]

Love your blog and this guest post! I have a random question... what color is the exterior of your home? That charcoal color? It's gorgeous!

[millie]

If you are the Great Barrington area, Campo di Fiore usually has a nice tent sale each memorial day too!