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.

Garden Container Review: Upside Down Tomato Planters and Earthbox

While it's exciting that container gardening has taken off and that retailers are taking notice of this interest in container gardening, it's important to note that not all containers do what they claim to do. Two of particular interest as of late are the Topsy Turvy Upside Down Tomato Planter and the EarthBox. Neither of these products is new to the market yet interest is continuing to rise. Are these products worth it? Do they do what they say they will?

The Topsy Turvy and other upside down tomato planters make the following claims: grows delicious & juicy tomatoes all season long, perfect for patio or deck, good for small spaces, no weeding, eliminates caging or staking, no soil-born disease, no blemishes from fruit touching the ground and you can harvest without bending down.

While I've not personally had one of these planters, we have had one at the greenhouse for the last two years. The greenhouse. With near ideal conditions in regard to sun, water and fertilizer. The yield? None. No tomatoes. So much for that all season long claim. And it's probably a good thing, too. Because that claim that there was no bending to harvest? Totally false. This tomato plant was actually lower than than plants in traditional containers growing up to meet us!

I personally think hanging it from a deck or patio is less than ideal for sun exposure. It has to be hung from something right? Like an overhang? Which will actually shade the plant to some extent which is also shaded by the planter itself. The sun is up there yet the plant is down here. Jorge Garcia (Hurley from Lost fame--love Hurley, although that's totally irrelevant here) wrote about his experiences with the Topsy Turvy on his blog. The tomatoes, as would be expected, grew to the light. This completely negates the whole concept of upside down. Why plant them upside down when the plants try to grow right side up? It seems rather mean, not to mention ridiculous! Meanwhile, his tomatoes in regular old pots did outstanding.

On another blog post at Garden Desk, the author bought one of these planters and contemplated its use. The comments to this post were enlightening. Most people who tried them did not get any fruit. Many had plants that fried. Many had plants that grew to the light. Several had more disease than traditional planting. Several who had success, modified the planter in some way which to me, defeats the whole purpose. And most importantly, watering was a nightmare, even with a reservoir.

Much of this is consistent with what we found at the greenhouse. The planter dries out quickly, the plant grows up anyway and the yield is nonexistent. I have to admit that when I first saw these I thought they could be a good idea. Now, I don't know why. Why do the roots to the sky make sense? They are open to sunlight and wind thus drying out faster. Strike one. When watering the plants the water drains to the leaves causing more disease. Tomatoes don't like wet foliage. Strike two. No tomatoes! Strike three and we're outta here!

Save your money. Simply planting a tomato plant in a larger container will be much more cost effective and you will have tomatoes all season long.

I do own an EarthBox. It's a fairly good product although I don't know that it's worth the money. For all it's claims, the same thing could be achieved for much less money. I believe when I purchased my EarthBox several years ago it retailed for $79. I see on Amazon it now sells for $50 so that's a plus. And it comes with wheels now! Nice!

Basically the EarthBox is a self-watering container garden. The kit comes with all the pieces parts to the box, fertilizer and a fitted plastic cover. Staking systems are available to purchase extra. The EarthBox claims double the yields of traditional gardens with less water. Okay, sounds good. And it is good. Yet, any container can be made into a self watering container. Plastic mulch can be cut to fit and secured in a container with garden staples. Time-release fertilizer can be purchased anywhere garden supplies are sold.

Upon perusing the EarthBox site, the main thing seems to be keeping the reservoir full at all times. Well, duh. So basically, water your plants on a regular basis. There is no gauge, window or indicator to alert a gardener to when the reservoir is low so you have to check it daily anyway. I don't see where this is really an upside since with traditional pots I can tell by looking at the soil that plants need water. This is a no-no with the EarthBox. Keep the reservoir full!

In reality, what EarthBox is selling is convenience. Nothing more. Does it work? Sure. Is is worth it? That will be a personal decision by each individual gardener. For some, the convenience of a kit will be worth the expense. For others, they will achieve the same thing with their existing containers, a rigged self-watering system, some fertilizer, plastic mulch and garden staples.

For me, I will continue to use my EarthBox. I have long given up it's prepackaged planting kits and simply planted it using potting soil and time release fertilizer. It works just fine. Will I buy another one? Nope. Don't think it's worth the money. What I will do is rig up several existing containers to be self-watering using some version of this method. And if I don't get around to that (often my garden plans exceed my time and energy limits), I'll continue to plant veggies in regular containers. No matter what, I'll have plenty of fresh vegetables!

Container Gardening Plants: Upright Fuchsias

I don't think there has been any plant more exciting to me in the past few years than the varieties of upright fuchsias we now carry at the greenhouse where I work (Levi Runions Garden Center, check it out!).

Many, many moons ago when I was just a wee baby gardener and didn't have a clue about much in the way of plants, I fell in love with fuchsias. Loved the blooms, loved the color and loved that they are a shade plant. So I bought some. And planted them in the ground because that's where I wanted them to be.

A friend, who was an actual gardener, came over and said, "Um, those go in hanging baskets."

I wondered why those beautiful blooms were hanging in the mud.

So for many years, I gave up on fuchsias all together. I didn't do and still don't do much in the way of hanging baskets. I want my flowers down here where I can see them. I do, however, go crazy on container gardens. Lots and lots of container gardens. Upright fuchsias are perfect for containers.

Strangely enough, my favorite fuchsia is the 'Gartenmeister' fuchsia. It doesn't have the traditional fuchsia bloom but it does have amazing blooms the color of which I've never seen before. It's an electric pink-orange color that contrasts beautifully with the plant's green and burgundy foliage. This plant provides big impact whether it's blooming or not, although once it starts blooming, it doesn't stop. While this plant can be difficult to pair with other plants, it can be done as shown here. On it's own, however, this plant is stunning as well.

Another favorite is 'Winston Churchill'. This plant has the more traditional fuchsia blooms with dynamic dark pink and purple bi-color flowers. Gorgeous. I planned on planting this last summer but grabbed the wrong plant instead. Oops! I will try again this year and plan on combining it with trailing coleus and lobelia.

Other varieties include 'Paula Jane' which has pink and dark rose blooms and 'Santa Claus' or 'Jingle Bells' which both have red and white flowers. All of these varieties are perfect for shade gardens or containers and can be planted alone or in combos. Companion plants include impatiens, begonias, coleus and lobelia.

If you love trailing fuchsias, try adding some of these upright beauties in your shade garden or containers as well. If, like me, you thought fuchsias weren't for you, it's time to give these stunners another look. Chances are you won't be disappointed!