My too late summer containers

When garden blogger Daniel Mount was recently in Madison looking at potential gardens for a tour by folks from the Pacific Northwest, one of those we visited was the home garden of Jeff Epping, hort director at Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison. Seeing Jeff's dozens of garden pots of every size and type — all filled with marvelous plant combinations — inspired me to go home and do something!

First I went looking for a large shallow pot that could hold a group of dwarf evergreens. Amazingly enough I found one locally at the Bruce Company. And it looks like it was made to go with our other large outdoor pots made by Wisconsin artists. I planted this low one with things I already had on hand that were waiting for permanent homes in the garden. I also added a couple of small rocks and two self-seeded white pines. And then mulched it with white pine needles.

On the other side of the deck, I gathered plants that were scattered around the garden (in and out of the ground!), put them in pots and grouped them around the Buddha for emphasis. Not perfect but not bad, considering it was very late in the season to being doing this kind of display.  

Plants in the display include three varieties of Begonias, herbs, and ornamental cabbages that can take the cooler fall temps. 

But the recent frost warnings made me bring everything into the garage for a few days until the overnight temperatures started to rise again. The truth is that many of these plants are going to have to permanently move indoors for the winter any day now. I admit that my containers are a far cry from those at Olbrich, but it's been a fun experiment and certainly has inspired me to give containers more thought in the future.

Comments

[Altoon]

They may be late, but they're lovely, and what fun you'll have next year!

[Barbara H.]

The pots and plants and pots with plants are lovely, especially the variety of foliage in the middle photos. What is Buddha sitting on? At first I though a wonderful rock but then I thought it might be a slab of wonderful wood. Loved it, whatever it is.

[CEN]

In this climate (5a), what should we do with small evergreens in containers over winter? I'm looking at the little spruces I got as a bonus at Metcalfe's on Earth Day (that have grown remarkably already) and wondering if I should bury the pots in ground, put them in the garage or let them tough it out outdoors.

[Erin @ The Impatient Gardener]

They are still beautiful. I'm not inclined to fall into autumn's trance without a fight so I say keep planting containers as long as you possibly can!

I just replanted the window box a couple weeks ago.

[LINDA from EACH LITTLE WORLD]

Barbara — Buddha is sitting on an old slab of wood that is unfortunately starting to rot and will have to be replaced before the Buddha falls over!

Carrie — you can plant them outdoors or bury the pots in the ground if they are not pottery which may crack from the freeze/thaw cycles we have here in zones 4/5. I would not put them in the garage, even though they go somewhat dormant it seems better to leave them out in their natural habitat.

I am planning on plunking my little evergreens in a bare spot in the garden for the winter and then digging them up and replanting them in the spring in the containers again. The begonias and the rosemary I'll take indoors and see if I can keep them alive!

[Lisa at Greenbow]

Isn't it fun to see something that gives you inspiration for potting ideas. I like your new pot. Great find.