Container Gardening Plants: Guara

I love, love, love this plant! It’s unusual, stands up to the high prairie winds here in Minnesota, is heat and drought tolerant and is ever-blooming. And best yet, no need to dead head. What’s not to like about that?

The delicate tendrils keep shooting out flowers to ever higher heights giving the plant just that much more to wave in the wind. Deadheading this plant stunts flowering for a time. I don’t recommend it except at planting time if the plant is spindly. I tried it later in the season and regretted it.

Guara is a Texas native perennial that is grown as a specialty annual in colder climates. The plant is used to much harsher conditions than the summers in Minnesota. It has done very well the last few summers in the hot, dry weather. It may not fare as well in a cooler, wetter summer but as we haven’t had one in a while I can’t say for sure.

The growth habit is tall with delicate tendrils which continue to shoot outward as the season wears on. The plant runs the risk of looking spindly if not planted with good companion plants. Use spreading or mounding plants such as fiber optic grass, brachycome, trailing verbena, or petunias to give the planter a full look. These mounding plants also accentuate the delicate blooms of the guara as they appear to shoot out of the container like fireworks.

Guara comes in shades of pink ranging from bright fuchsia to almost white. Foliage colors range from bright green to dark variegated burgundy. In the variegated varieties the foliage is as gorgeous as the flowers and adds more sizzle to containers.

Plant a couple in of these ever blooming beauties in containers and watch your flowers dance all summer. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Growing Art: Container Garden Design of the Week

Prairie Beauty

Plants: Gaura (1), fiber optic grass (2), trailing verbena (2)

This is a great design for those windy spots in your yard. Guara looks like a delicate plant but don’t let its appearance fool you. This is a Texas native that also stands up to heat, drought and humidity. In windy areas, rather than get beat down or shredded, the delicate pink flowers dance in the wind, enhancing the beauty of the plant and adding interest in the garden.

Trailing verbena is a spreading plant rather than a true trailer and fills in the base of the guara nicely. I like to use purple as a strong contrast to the pink flowers. Lavender or pink trailing verbena would work well also depending on your color preferences.

In the corners, use fiber optic grass. This plant does double duty as filler and a trailing plant. I do recommend splitting this plant (2 plants for 4 corners) as it is a vigorous grower. In the picture you’ll notice the fiber optic grass is taking over. In fact the trailing verbena gets lost in all that grass and this picture is really a cautionary tale. This is what you don’t want. It will fill in quickly even if it looks sparse at first.



These plants can all take full sun and would do well in either a south or west exposure. I have had it on the east side of my house and it has done very well there as well.

Truly the best part of this arrangement is how well it stands up to wind. As long as the plants get at least 6 hours of sun, put this container in any windy spot in your yard where other plants get windblown. You’ll be amazed at the beauty of this container.

What Goes Where? How to Design a Container Garden

The hardest part of gardening is deciding what plants to use. What plants go together? What about color? With the vast array of choices, where do you begin? The whole process can be overwhelming.

As I’ve mentioned previously, the basic container design is Up, Out, Down. Another way to look at it is "thrillers" or the focal plant, "fillers", mounding or spreading plants and "spillers", trailing plants. Varying the heights, growing habits, color and leaf shape of the plants used is what gives the container interest and makes a successful planting. Of course, there are containers that work well with a single plant and can be stunning but when you do combinations you don’t want the plants competing with each other. For example, if all the plants are upright, the container will look empty at the soil level. Using all trailing or spreading plants will look flat. Mounding plants do work well in a pot but can be boring unless in a grouping.

Good choices for the thriller or focal plant are taller, upright plants such as coleus, grasses, and taller varieties of petunias, snapdragons, zinnias and marigolds. Fillers include alyssum, trailing verbena, some trailing petunias, oxalis and smaller varieties of petunias, snapdragons and marigolds. Good trailers are vinca vine, creeping jenny, calibrochoa, bacopa and sweet potato vine.

So where do you start? I always start with a plant I love, something that catches my eye or that I just have to have. This can be any sort of plant. Sometimes I start with the focal plant, sometimes with the filler. It doesn’t really matter but having a jumping off point, a plant or color you want to have, makes choosing companion plants a whole lot easier.

One of the plants I love is the Global Merlot ivy geranium. I’m not sure if it’s the color of the blooms or the name that I love more but when I saw it, I knew I had to have it. So what to put with it? An ivy geranium is what I call a spreader. Some will call it a trailing plant but its growth habit is more straight out, filling in the soil line nicely. In this case, I started with the filler so I now I needed a focal point and a trailer. I literally walked around the greenhouse, carrying my plant and holding it up to others to see how it looked. It’s not unlike putting an outfit together. I found a sun coleus with burgundy and lime green leaves. The burgundy played nicely off the deep red blooms of the geranium and the lime green edging led me to the Marguerite sweet potato vine. One plant leads to another. There is contrast in growth habit and leaf shape but everything ties together.

It may take time to find plants that work together. What seems like a good idea in the greenhouse may not look so great when it all gets growing but that’s part of the process and what I think is part of the fun of gardening. Starting with a plant that you love and a basic formula does make the process a lot easier and increases the chances of creating a successful container.

Container Gardening: Geraniums

Geraniums are a container garden staple. Who doesn’t remember grandma’s porch with it’s containers of red geraniums? For this ubiquity, the geranium has garnered a reputation as a rather stodgy plant and not very exciting. At least this is what I used to think.

For the longest time I stayed away from geraniums as visions of my grandmother’s front porch loomed in my head. But geraniums are a great container plant for many reasons, the best being that are incredibly heat and drought tolerant. They can thrive where other plants wilt. They are also constant bloomers, although deadheading is important. However, deadheading geraniums is easier that with most plants as flowers grow in clusters on long stems. Best of all, they come in a wide variety of flower colors as well as foliage colors.

We’ve all seen the red geraniums with a spike and vinca vines. It’s a classic to the point that it’s beyond tired. Even mixing up this combination with a pink or neon purple geranium is a breath of fresh air. Try geraniums with coleus, bacopa, heliotrope or salvia. As with petunias, try geraniums as the filler plant rather than the focal point. Choose geraniums for their foliage color. There are many new ones where the foliage is the star. Use them in the really hot spots of your garden where you struggle to get plants to thrive. You’ll be surprised at just how fresh this container workhorse can look.


.

Growing Art: Container Garden Design of the Week

Updated Geraniums

Plants: 3 William Langguth zonal geraniums, 3 medium pink zonal geraniums, 3 white (or light pink or white bi-color) zonal geraniums, 6 heliotrope (trailing variety)

I stole this idea from a gardening book. Something about it just grabbed me. Perhaps the color combination or just that it took what I considered a uninspiring plant and made it look fresh. This is a good design for a plant grouping. If you are using smaller pots (10-14 inches), I would put one color of geranium in each pot and group the pots fairly close together.

I used to use this in a 6 pot arrangement and it worked much better. Currently, I use this combination in 3 large pots that are spaced fairly far apart. I'm still trying to work the kinks out and get the look I had with the 6 pot grouping. This is last year's model. I used one of each geranium in each pot (thus breaking the rule of grouping colors together and remembering why this is a rule in the first place!) and two heliotrope. Obviously, the white took over. It was a seed geranium which is better suited to the garden than a container. This year I will use all zonals and try two of one and one of another in each pot to see if I can better emulate the 6 pot grouping I used to have.

This planting will take a lot of heat and is drought tolerant. I currently have this on the south side of my house, on the concrete, in front of stone siding in a black metal pot. It doesn't get much hotter than that! And you can see from the picture, it flourished. I also love the contrast the variegated foliage of the William Langguth adds to the container. Much more exciting that a regular red geranium! And geraniums of any other color than red always seems fresher to me.

Some varieties of heliotrope take more sun than others. Also, choose a variety that is trailing or semi-trailing. The upright varieties I've used not only didn't look right in the planting but they didn't seem to take the heat very well either. The heliotrope spilling down the sides of the container is a nice contrast to the compact nature of the geraniums and is what really makes this container work.

Playing in the Dirt: Choosing Soil for Container Gardens

Soil is the most important component in gardening and it is even more so in container gardening. In my opinion, the whole point of container gardening is great results, huge plants and constant blooming. The best way to achieve this is to use the best soil possible. Soil can make or break a container. In some instances, rich soil will be a detriment (i.e. morning glory, moonflower and other vines in the ipomoea family) but for the most part, good soil is a must.

I don’t really recommend filling your pots with soil from the garden for several reasons. One, you don’t really know what the content of that soil is and just how well your plants might do. And again, the whole point of container gardening is good results. Second, the soil tends to be heavier (particularly here) and less rich. Perennials may do well but for short term growth? Not so much. In order to get this soil up to snuff you would have to add things like peat, perlite, and fertilizer and you still won’t be able to predict results. There’s also the possibility of having a high salt content, high or low ph or toxins in the soil that will affect plant growth.

I really recommend using potting soil that you either buy of make yourself. In our region Minnesota, peat based potting mixes work best with our water conditions. I have used Miracle Gro soil (which is a bark based soil) with satisfactory results so I can’t discount that entirely. Whichever you choose, I do recommend a potting mix with time release fertilizer mixed in the soil. If you can get a mix with the water saving crystals, I say get it. There have been some studies that say these crystals don’t significantly reduce watering. And I would say that likely true but I think what it does do is reduce stress on your plants in the hotter weather. You will still have to water everyday but the plants won’t dry out as bad between waterings. If it buys you a couple of hours until you get home from work and your plants aren’t stressed and wilting, I think it’s totally worth it.

If you have a lot of large pots or the cost of the premixed potting soil is cost prohibitive you can mix up your own soil. Buy the very basic potting soil for a couple of dollars per 20 pounds. In this area it’s sold under the name Hyponex. It does come with perlite added so you won’t have to add that, but you will have to add peat. Peat is fairly cheap and one of the best things you can do for any soil. As is the way I do things, I don’t have an exact ratio of soil to peat. I would do about half and half or at least enough peat to give the soil a more brown color and a lighter texture. Also, you will need to add Osmocote, a time release fertilizer. Follow the directions on the package. Mix up all the ingredients in a wheelbarrow or other large container. You can also add the water crystals if you desire.

I also recommend using new soil in your containers each year. The soil will be largely depleted after a season of use and the effort to get it back up to snuff, in my opinion, just isn’t worth it. In very large pots, I don’t dump all the dirt but probably about the top third or at least what it compacted with old roots. I dump all the old dirt in my garden. I figure if it has any magic left in it, it can help my perennials.

Choosing the right soil will vastly improve your container results. It’s the foundations of gardening. Get this part right and everything else is practically effortless.

Container Gardening: Coleus

Coleus

What can’t you do with coleus? It used to be that coleus were cute little colorful plants that grew in the shade. Now there is a coleus for nearly any light condition, in sizes from 6 inches to 3 feet tall, in a vast array of colors that includes deep purple, burgundy, orange, red, cream, yellow and lime green. They also come in upright, mounded or trailing varieties. When it comes to container gardening, this is pretty much the perfect plant.

Use coleus to tie together flowering plants and single color foliage plants, or to tie together two different colors of flowering plants. Use it to add color and texture to any container. The colorful foliage adds that extra pop to any container and breaks up the otherwise sea of green foliage.

Even containers planted with several of one variety of coleus is quite striking. Or really go wild and mix several varieties together (but make sure the colors all play off each other). What more can I say about this plant except this: coleus works hard so you don’t have to!

Growing Art: Container Garden Design of the Week

Welcome!
Recipe: 3 ivy geranium, 3 Marguerite sweet potato vine, 1 sun coleus (24-36 inches tall)



I’ve worked on this pot for several years. It originally started in a whiskey barrel at my old house and went through several incarnations before I came up with something I was happy with. It’s my contention that it takes at least three years to come up with a combination that I really like and actually works together. Sometimes things that look good together don’t grow well together. They might have different sun requirements, water needs or fertilizer needs. One might grow faster, overshadowing another or it might just be simple user error. I put in too much of one plant and not enough of another. I just keep tweaking until I get something that works and appeals to me.

That’s what happened when I stumbled on to this mix. I had the sweet potato vine and the ivy geraniums for years. I just wasn’t getting the third plant right. I tried snapdragons, petunias and regular geraniums. It wasn’t until the larger sun coleus showed up at my garden center that I got this combination to work.

What I like about this combination is that it looks good almost immediately (this picture taken about a month after planting) and just keeps getting better and better throughout the summer. The sweet potato vine grows down to cover the pot, the coleus gets up to 3 feet tall (make sure you choose the tallest variety you can find) and the ivy geraniums bloom all summer.

The beauty of this design is in the variety of the ivy geraniums and coleus. I started with the ivy geranium because I fell in love with the Global Merlot (a beautiful burgundy flower) but you could also start with the coleus. Putting a pot together is not unlike putting an outfit together. Each plant plays off the other. Since I started with the Global Merlot, I looked for a coleus that meshed with the burgundy and also had some lime green in the leaves. This way the coleus, in addition to being the focal point of the container, ties together the geranium and the Marguerite sweet potato vine.

This container is a good example of basic container design. There is the focal point that goes up (coleus), the filler plant or spreading plant (ivy geranium), and the trailing plant (sweet potato vine). Or as I like to say, up, out, down. It doesn’t get much easier than that.

Gone to Pots: Choosing Containers for Planting

Pots are largely a matter of personal preference although there are some practical things to consider when choosing containers such as size, weight and durability as well as style and color.

One thing all planting containers must have is good drainage. This cannot be emphasized enough. Good drainage typically means there is a least one good sized hole in the bottom of the pot so excess water can drain away from the roots. Without this the plants can drown. Yes, plants can drown. The roots of plants need oxygen and if they are waterlogged they will drown. The exception, of course, is water or marsh plants but that is another matter entirely. For container gardening, the plants need good drainage.

Most pots will have drainage holes in them and are ready to go as soon as you purchase them. However, sometimes they will not. This seems to happen to me when the container is really cool and I have to have it. Sure enough, no drainage holes. Fortunately, this is simple to remedy. Use a power drill and one of the larger bits in a basic drill set (1/4” to maybe 1/2”). Drill 2 to 3 holes in the bottom depending on the size of the pot and the size of the drill bit you are using. Very small pots (6” and under) will only need one. I have drilled metal, plastic and some kind of lightweight composite stuff, all with ease and great success. I have not drilled any kind of pottery, however, and suspect that may lead to a broken pot. I don’t know that I would risk that.

After determining that a pot has adequate drainage, the next things to consider are what you’re going to put in the pot and where you’re going to put it. Again, this can be completely subjective so I’ll go through some of the different materials pots are made of and the pros and cons of each.

Terra Cotta
Terra Cotta is the traditional orange clay pot that is practically synonymous with container gardening. I admit there is a certain charm to this type of pot but I choose not to work with them for a couple of reasons. Aside from the fact that they are breakable and I am clumsy, these pots MUST be soaked in a tub of water prior to planting or you will be a watering fool all summer long just trying to keep up with the watering. Terra Cotta is porous and will steal water from your plants if not initially waterlogged. Also, with the high salt content in the water we have here the pot gets what I consider to be an unsightly look. The pot will have a white crust on the outside as the salt in the water leaches out. Again, this is just my opinion. Some people like this rustic look—so this can be a pro or a con depending on the look you are going for. These containers tend to be on the heavy side so are better suited for windy areas and for containers you don’t intend on moving very often.

Plastic
Plastic pots are inexpensive for the most part and fairly durable. They will get brittle and tend to crack after a few seasons but for the most part can handle some rough handling and a few drops in their prime. One drawback is they will fade in the sun so any color other that white, light gray or tan isn’t going to look so hot after a few years either. However, they come in a vast variety of sizes and colors and are lightweight. Even if you are dealing with a large pot, it can still be portable if necessary (depending on your soil, of course, more on that later). Plastic containers now also come in many attractive finishes that look like stone or terra cotta without the expense or weight. Also, they pots hold water better than terra cotta thusly making watering slightly easier. I prefer plastic for all these reasons and generally choose either plain terra cotta colored ones or grey toned pots. Simple pots let the flowers shine and don’t detract from their beauty.

Metal
The metal pots I’ve gotten never seem to have drainage so I end up having to drill my own holes. Like plastic, metals come in a variety of finishes including some that mimic stone or slate without the weight of those materials. These containers tend to more expensive than either terra cotta or plastic but also tend to be more durable. I have several powder coated metal pots that I leave outside year round. Even with the harsh Minnesota elements, they hold up well. My metal containers are larger ones so not easily moved. It’s nice to be able to leave them outside and not have to worry they will get destroyed. If you’re looking for something highly durable but lightweight, metal is the way to go.

Other Materials
This year I’ve seen many pots made from bamboo—again the ones I saw had no drainage so you’d have to drill your own holes. Bamboo is very durable and lightweight, not to mention a sustainable resource. I haven’t had a chance to use these containers myself but I think they would make a good choice.

There are also peat pots, foam product pots and peat lined baskets. None of these is very durable and with the exception of the foam product containers, don’t hold water well. These can be a good choice for temporary plantings or shady areas. None of these will stand up to wind well either.

Painted clay pots have pretty much the same advantages as terra cotta without the disadvantage of the watering issue. The paint seals the container so water won’t leach out. Disadvantages with these types of containers will be cost, weight and durability.

Other considerations when choosing a container are size, color and design. You want the pots to be in scale to the area you plan to put them. That is, not so large and overpowering that it crowds the space nor so small that it gets lost in the space. Several smaller pots grouped together can work well in lieu of one big pot. I do recommend varying the sizes and heights of pots in a grouping.

What you plan to put in the container will also influence the pot you choose. If you are doing a more complex design with more than two types of plants, I suggest using a plain pot of neutral color. This is not to say that more ornate or colorful pots don’t have a place in the garden. They certainly do and can add great dimension and interest. In this case, just make sure that the pot is the statement and the flowers complement the container. In this instance one or two different plants at most is the way to go.

Whatever container you choose is really the right container for you. Just make sure it has good drainage and fits well in the space you plan to use. It’s really as simple as that!

Container Gardening: Petunias

Take Another Look at Petunias!

I know that as flowers go, petunias don’t seem as exciting as say ornamental grasses or some of the other specialty plants that are popular right now. Petunias are a constant, everybody’s had them and they are everywhere. We’ve been there, done that! And yes, I’d say that’s all true but it’s true for very good reasons. Petunias, despite their ubiquity, are a showy plant. They bloom, they bloom and they bloom some more. And they smell good, too. Petunias come in a wide variety of colors and sizes and I would say for those reasons alone, these flowers are exciting. Every year, nurseries come up with new varieties of petunias. To try to name all the permutations of petunias available would be impossible which is a testament to just how exciting these flowers still are. I think rather than dismiss petunias as common, the idea is to think about using petunias in a different way.

One of my favorites is the Wave Series. There are now 5 different Wave series, the Wave, Tidal Wave, Shock Wave, Double Wave and Easy Wave. The three I am most familiar with are the Wave, Tidal Wave and Easy Wave. The difference in these three is in the height. The Wave is low growing (4-6”) while the Tidal Wave is a more upright variety (16-22”). The Easy Wave falls in the middle (6-10”). They all have a spreading habit which makes all of them ideal for containers. In the It’s a Grand Old Flag design, I have one of each which adds to the interest of the grouping.

Waves also make excellent groundcover. If you have a large area to cover Waves are the way to go. A few plants will cover a large area. After the first time planting Waves in a flower bed, I had to scale back plantings because the plants did so well. I had problems with them taking over. One of my favorite things to do with Waves is to plant upright plants of a contrasting color that poke through the spreading Waves. The effect is spectacular. I have used medium height snapdragons or upright petunias in conjunction with Waves with great success.

As for the hundreds of other petunia varieties which fall into categories based on flower-size, they also make excellent choices for container gardening. For myself I have noticed a shift away from making the petunia the center attraction in a container and giving it a supporting role. I have been very pleased with the results. One of my favorites is the milliflora varieties which are the smallest flowers. I like to plant it with other mounding type plants like this:

Petunias are also good as filler plants in more complex container designs and when using specialty foliage plants. Because of the variety of colors, sizes and heights, I can almost always find a petunia variety to complement my design.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be showing more designs that use petunias. They really are a beautiful and versatile annual. When you head out to the nurseries and garden centers this spring, give petunias another look. Think of how they can complement plants rather than taking front and center as they have in years gone by. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find that petunias really are new and exciting!

Growing Art: Container Garden Design of the Week

It’s a Grand Old Flag!

This is a really simple basic design. So simple in fact, it really shouldn’t be called a design. However, this is a good example of how grouping pots together creates a big impact.

I used three colors of wave petunias: red, blue and silver. The silver is a white flower with purple veins although the flowers sometimes will be lavender instead of white. I chose the silver instead of white because it gave the same effect as pure white without the harshness. Pure white flowers definitely have their place in the garden but just not with bright colors like red and purple, in my opinion.

In my earlier gardening days I would have put one of each color in each pot thinking that would yield the effect of the flag. In doing that, however, each color is actually diminished and mostly it just looks a mess. Putting all one color in a pot allows each color to shine on its own as well as collectively creating a patriotic impact. In general, single plants have less impact except in the instance of accent plants. Here, 3 to 4 petunias per pot provide a big wow factor. If you pinch the plants back within the first month, you will have really full beautiful flowering plants. I know it’s hard to pinch them back when they are just starting to take off, but try it. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

The stand I used here is one I picked up at the street fair some years ago. I love it. However, the same effect could be achieved by using pots of different sizes or by raising up pots with pavers or bricks. This is also an excellent grouping to use on steps.

Real Gardeners Don’t Plant in Pots...Do They?

When I first started gardening I considered pots to be the domain of the non-gardener. What came to mind were lone pots of geraniums placed on steps outside of otherwise barren landscapes. It was the least amount of effort and a small attempt to brighten up the summer that generally failed miserably. Real gardeners didn’t bother with pots I thought. They planted things in the ground and worked their magic to make them grow. That was the true mark of a “real” gardener. I now know that real gardeners are smart and plant in pots, too.

I spent years planting annuals in the heavy clay soil that is typical of my region. I would till peat into the soil, add slow release fertilizer, mulch and water, water, water. Sometimes I would get great results but more often than not, I was disappointed. My plants didn’t get big enough, they didn’t bloom enough, or quite simply, they died.

My first foray into container gardening was an unusual one. I had a bed on the north side of the house that was almost complete shade and tended toward the damp side. I planted it with impatiens, pansies and tuberous begonias. The impatiens and the pansies did great. The begonias, not so much. The soggy conditions the impatiens and pansies thrived in gave my begonias stem rot. The plants never flourished and consequently were overpowered by the very happy impatiens. I liked the way the design looked when the plants actually grew right so the next year, determined to get those begonias to grow, I bought two big plastic pots. I thought if the ground was too wet then I had to give them different ground. I buried the pots leaving only about 4 to 6 inches above ground level. I do have to admit that I filled the pots with the dirt I dug from around the pots. That was before I learned the importance of good soil. Still, I have to say the pots were a success. The soil in the pots remained dryer since it was separated from the rest of the bed which was subject to rain runoff from the house. The begonias thrived in the dryer conditions and because the level of the pot was higher than the ground, it gave height and dimension to what was otherwise a pretty but flat garden

It was then I realized just how versatile and productive container gardening can be. I now almost exclusively plant my annuals in containers for best results. I leave the heavy clay soil to the perennials which are better suited to those conditions.

There are many good reasons that container gardening is an attractive option. First and foremost, you can control soil conditions. Annuals grow much better, bigger and faster in good potting soil than they will in our clay soil. And when you have a short growing season like we do here in Minnesota, that’s important. Also on the short season note, you can start early! Generally here in the middle of Minnesota it’s not safe to plant annuals in the ground until Memorial Weekend, as a general rule. That’s pretty late in the season if you ask me as I start to get eager to play in the dirt around March. I do manage to hold off to the beginning of May for my pots though. If there is threat of frost as there often is here in May, I can just bring the pots in for the night.

Container gardening can be done in any amount of space so whether you live in an apartment or a house, you can have beautiful plants. Containers can be grouped together for a big effect or they can add height and interest to an otherwise flat bed. Pots can liven up dark spots and fill in dead spots where nothing else will grow. They are also portable so if something isn’t thriving in a particular spot it can be easily moved. And last, almost anything can be grown in a pot, including fruits and vegetables.

Container gardening adds a whole other dimension to traditional gardening and the two compliment each other nicely. In the coming weeks I’ll share some how-to’s of container gardening, different way to use containers in the overall gardening scheme, container designs and some of my favorite flowers for containers.