Container Gardening Idea: Cool Season Charmer

2 Violina Orange Violas

4 Halloween II Pansies

1 foliage plant : Baby Tut, Big Twister or Ribbon Bush

I first showed pictures of this combo here. It didn't look like much at the time but I was hoping that it would grow up well and I have to say that it did indeed! As the name of this site suggests, I do love me some pansies and violas (they were my grandma's favorite flowers) so these trailing violas caught my eye immediately. I do not, however, generally like yellow flowers and definitely not orange. This picture once again puts the flower-color-namer-people under suspicion because I'm not sure on what planet these would be considered orange. They do have a slightly tangerine beard that I guess could be considered orange but the overall effect is YELLOW.

I did look up the other colors of this plant and the actual yellow of this variety is not nearly as stunning as this one but then again the picture of the orange doesn't do it justice either. At any rate, the whole reason that The Powers That Be (namely my friend who is my boss) chose this plant is for it's orangeness and it's cool season blooming as the high school colors here are black and orange. With the Halloween II pansies, this would make a great planter for graduation, right? Oh, well, best laid plans.

At any rate, this combo turned out to be a stunner after all even it didn't quite get the local high school spirit. I love how these violas trail, trail, trail and bloom profusely! They don't stop. The Halloween II pansies provide great contrast with their dark purple blooms and yellow eye. SImple, colorful and eye-catching. Good for our cooler weather here in Minnesota. Although we may see some decreased vigor in the extreme heat of July and August, this combo should pop back in September and look fantastic until freeze.

I did several variations of this planter using different foliage plants and they all seemed to do very well. My favorite is the Baby Tut. I think it provides the most  texture and interest. Who doesn't love a Baby Tut? I also did a version with Big Twister juncus which also turned out although it's a bit more subtle.

I had to try this combo at home. We sold out of Baby Tut and Big Twister early but that didn't matter because we did have Ribbon Bush. I had never seen this plant before so I had to bring it home to see what it would do. What better than to put it with my new favorite trailing shade plant?

It's not bad as combos go although my plants need some more growing up to match the planter at top! Patience...

I do have to say that I do love the Ribbon Bush. This is a shade foliage plant that actually gets some size. I have this on the east side of my house under an awning so it really only gets the early morning sun. At this point it's about  24 inches tall. Pretty good for a shade plant! And the texture is really interesting and fun. I do think this planter's finest hour will be this fall though.

This simple combo really packs a punch in the shade. Whether you choose a more tropical look with the Baby Tut (as if pansies could be tropical, HA!), a more subtle look with the Big Twister or a more unusual look with the Ribbon Bush, this cool season combo is sure to be a winner.

New Container Combos for 2010

It's that time of year again when I get to do my favorite part of my job at the greenhouse. Create container combos! When they don't know what else to do with me, my bosses tell me to go make up some combos and I am only too happy to oblige. I love creating combos. The worst part is, I generally fall in love with every one I do and want to take them all home. If I did that, I could forget getting paid. Ever.

Because I need to get paid in something other than flowers (although that would be complete heaven, if not for the cost of living), I got smart this year and bought an micro SD card for my phone so I can take pictures of the combos I put together at work. I may not always remember to bring my camera, but I always have my cell phone in my back pocket (I know, low grade radiation. I will regret it massively when I have butt cheek cancer). I like the idea of having a record of what I put together. Often, it goes out the door before I can see it mature and I don't know if it works or not. And I forget what I've done. I think it will be interesting to see what I get fixated on this year as well. Last year, it was pink and yellow and blue which is weird because as colors go, pink and yellow are not my favorites. But I just couldn't stop planting pink, yellow and blue. Perhaps it was because my closest friend was pregnant and the baby thing was on my mind. She had a girl by the way.

This year, I'm able to do combos earlier and hopefully will be able to get some idea of how these turn out. As always, sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. Plants don't always cooperate and grow like they say they will. They are rebellious that way. But the trial and error is part of the fun. So here are some photos of my baby designs that don't look like much yet, but as always, I am in love with them all. I hope they grow up well.

Orange King coleus is one of my favorites although I think it's hard to combine with other plants. Often I end up including it in all foliage designs. Here I've combined it with another favorite coleus called Indian Summer and a variegated lysimachia that's basically yellow foliage with yellow flowers. Not sure why it's called variegated but what I like about it is that it's similar in color to goldi lysimachia with much larger and fleshier leaves. I love the warm color combination of this and how it ties in with the pot color. I've also combined Orange King with burgundy oxalis (the little one with yellow flowers) and goldi lysimachia. It was gorgeous. Orange King gets really large so use this in a fairly large container.

Here's a new favorite coleus, Kingswood Torch. I love the orangy-red-pink color. You'd think that color would be impossible, it is not. And it's gorgeous. I've combined it here with Genta Antique Red diascia and Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Light Green sweet potato vine. Pretty simple design yet I think this one could be gorgeous. I may hide this one so I can see it grow up.

One thing I am noticing this year in my designs is that I am tending to simplify designs to enhance one particular plant. Last year I was hella flower crazy (with the pink, yellow and blue) and this year I seem to be going for the subtle yet dramatic. We'll see how that goes. New to our greenhouse this year is Iochroma Purple Queen. I wanted to feature this plant since it's flowers are so unusual yet fairly subtle. I combined it with Breathless Euphorbia which will give it an airy look with tiny white flowers and Sidekick Black Heart sweet potato vine. The hope is that these two plants will allow the Iochroma to shine while adding texture and drama.

This is similar to a combo I did last year that I really loved. Unfortunately, I did them for specific customers and then they went right out the door so I didn't get to see how they grew up. I love the tropical look of this. I started with Baby Tut and added Painted Paradise New Guinea Impatiens in pink. If the New Guineas never bloomed this combo would still be gorgeous. In fact, I chose the Catalina Gilded Grape torenia to go with the foliage rather than the flowers. Hopefully, the pink won't look too out of place. If it does, I guess I'll just pinch them off because I think this combo is pretty much perfect right now.

I'm excited to see how these grow up. They feature a new plant for us called Violina Violas in orange. This is a trailing viola and right now, in the greenhouse, it is gorgeous. I combined them with both Baby Tut and Juncus Big Twister. I also threw in some Halloween Pansy plugs between the violas. Hopefully they won't get lost. I think the orange/black combo could be really cool, not to mention that it's the high school colors here.

I loved the way the bronze sweet potato vine looked against this simple tan planter but I didn't want it to be boring. I brightened it up with Electric Lime coleus which will get more yellow throughout the season and Genta Antique Red diascia. For a bit of whimsy I threw in a Juncus Big Twister. I might have started with tan but I think this combo will be anything but boring. I may have to hide this one, too.

Sometimes, when we have an abundance of something, my bosses will request that I use a certain plant. A lot of a certain plant. This year, we went a little overboard on the Burgundy Star Easy Wave. It's the boss-man's favorite plant. They were getting a little leggy and in need of planting so I did a series of combos you can see here, here, and here. My favorites are this one are this one with curry and tricolor sweet potato vine and this simple little diddy with Juncus Blue Arrows and bacopa. I think it's the pot that makes it work. It's just cute. It's fun to have a challenge to use something I might not otherwise choose and see how many different ways I can use it.

That's the beginning of my combos for this year. Hopefully, I'll be able to post some pictures of them as they grow so you can see what works, what doesn't and why.