Potted and pleased

I have a lot of lovely pots in my garden but I rarely fill them with plants. For a few years I put a big pair on the deck on either side of our British bench. Each one held a boxwood; then I swiped that for a big blue Hosta in each. But this year, I somehow seem to have filled at least a dozen pots with plants. Some were intentional and some happenstance. Initially I fell for a number of Begonias and wanted a way to display them for the summer. 

A pair of large wood fired stoneware pots are on opposite sides of the path in the area with most of my flowering plants. Each features a Begonia and a deeply colored Geranium. 

I was thinking of these plants as annuals and did not save most tags. This one is getting more sun than it wants and is showing some leaf burn. 

I grabbed this one at a nursery recently to pop into a hole before a tour. Once the tour groups left, I moved it to the deck. 

The flowers were lovely waving in the wind. But it's the stems that are the noteworthy part of this plant.

I needed a home for my last Begonia; a silvery leaved variety. I put it in a big pot with a number of plants that were so crowded elsewhere in the garden that I pulled them out and added them to the pot. i am particularly pleased with the Begonia/Hosta color combo.

The plants that wouldn't fit got pots of their own. Note that I used native Penn Sedge as a filler/mulch throughout this big pot. 

Herbs are on the nearby steps. 

I used little pieces of tree bark as mulch. I kept finding it on the ground after windy days and decided to see how it would work in small pots.  

I often put a shrub in a pot until I find time — and the right location — to plant it. This is Thuja orientalis 'Franky Boy.'

This one has white shells and flat stones used as mulch.

I saw Gladiolus murielae in a friend's garden last summer and fell in love with the flowers. I put my two pots of bulbs up on bricks which has deterred critters from digging in them — at least so far. 

I decided my Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis 'Sugar Shack') was not happy where I planted it last year. So I put it in this big pot while I decide on its new home. I was hoping it would provide a bit of shade to the nearby plants as the Pagoda Dogwood that sheltered them died. 

I pick up the biggest pine cones and save them to use as decorative mulch in pots where they are visible. 

There are always pine cones on the paths and in the beds in my garden so I set out a pot where I can collect them when I find them. I just added a second pot for sticks and weeds. That way I don't have to keep taking debris down to my work area every time I pick something up. The pot of weedy bits may not be the most attractive container but I am thrilled with what a step-saver it is. I'm also amazed at how quickly I keep filling it up.

I'm not sure whether all these pots mean I am about to become a container gardener, but I've been having fun. They're mostly in two locations so it hasn't even been a big task keeping them watered. All the pots, except for the ones made of terracotta, are wood-fired stoneware by Mark Skudlarek of Cambridge, WI.

Comments

[danger garden]

I love the pine-cone mulch. I've threatened to use the buckets of male cones that fall from the Doug Fir trees behind us as mulch in my containers but never have.

[Linda Brazill]

DANGER — We have masses of Dawn Redwood cones but they are very tiny. Cut but too much trouble to use them for mulch.

[Kris P]

You did right by those beautiful pots in adding some plants. I smiled seeing the pine cone mulch - pine cones are hard to come by here but I use Magnolia cones for the same purpose. I've also used them to deter raccoons from digging in certain areas.

[Barbara H.]

The plants and pots are lovely, Linda, and I like your creative ideas for mulch.

[Linda Brazill]

KRIS P. — Maybe I will keep a bin of pinecones on hand in case we get racoons again.

[Beth@PlantPostings]

I noticed your pots when we visited for the Fling. Very nice! I sometimes use pine cones, too. Lava rocks work well, also, for deterring the chipmunks and the squirrels.