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Container gardening is for everyone, whether you have a small balcony or an extensive landscape. Large pots, small pots, window boxes and shallow dishes--they all add to any home's outdoor décor.

The reason for container interest lately is they do many things in a landscape:

• Create focal points
• Add a colorful welcome at the entrance to a home
• Create temporary interest in an area that's past its prime or hasn't yet reached it
• Test new plants before introducing them into the landscape
• Grow plants that are not hardy in your area so they can be moved indoors or to a protected area during winter months

When planning a container or buying one already created, determine first where it will go and how it will be seen. Following are some guidelines:

• Pots viewed from one side should have taller plants in back
• Pots viewed from all sides should have taller plants in the center
• Vary leaf shapes color, and size for textural contrast and interest
• Make sure all the foliage works together; not all plants may bloom at the same time
• When using multiple containers, have some unifying features. Use similar pots, repeat the type of plants, or have a related color scheme. 

Containers Make Perfect Solutions
For those plants that you can't be without, but have no room your garden, put them in containers. My zone 4 garden is too cold for many perennials so I use them as annuals in pots. Last year I combined Diascia integerrima 'Coral Canyon', Gaura lindheimeri 'Whirling Butterflies', Lavandula angustifolia 'Hidcote Superior', and trailing Vinca major 'Big Leaf Periwinkle.' In a favorite cobalt blue pot, it was stunning.

I also combine a variety of succulents. Some years I plant various succulents in strawberry pots. Other years, I use hypertufa troughs to make small succulent garden displays. I usually place these on my front steps so they can be observed up close. 

Other combinations--

• Edibles combined with perennials. Swiss chard 'Bright Lights' has big green leaves on stems that range from yellow to dark pink. Mix with Salvia greggii 'Wild Thing', Helianthemum nummularium 'Single yellow', and Origanum x 'Amethyst Falls'. Add Iris pallida 'Variegata' for its strong leaf shape.
• In a sunny seating area use Agastache cana and Lavandula angustifolia 'Buena Vista' with a trailing plant such as Rosmarinus officinalis 'Irene'.

A few hints

• Use pretty rocks or pieces or driftwood to fill gaps between new plants. 
• Fill spaces with blooming annuals until the perennials are ready to bloom. 
• Use big pots if possible. They provide a more dramatic accent and they don't need to be watered every day.
• Add Yum Yum Mix organic fertilizer to potting soil. Use root stimulators such as Superthrive and Saltwater Farms Sea Com-PGR to help plants get established.

As your fantasies run rampant when shopping for container plants, just remember the simple guidelines of varying heights, different kinds of plants, and include several colors that coordinate nicely. And you're on your way.


David's Helpful Hints: The Interdependence of Hidden Things

There are many parts of a garden that compose a full picture of pleasing visual delights. With that certainly being the goal, it's important to keep in mind the interdependence of the various elements in a garden. 

Besides having a gratifying understructure of hardscape--the bedding areas, the pathways, the rockwork and outdoor structures, the different levels to intrigue the eye--a garden relies on the following three elements:

• microclimates
• plant combinations
• healthy living soil

For more information about each, go to our online library.

These three elements work together. Two of them, microclimate and living soil, almost unseen and often overlooked yet indispensable to a successful garden.

The microclimates are the small, ever undulating mini-gardens within the whole garden. These include dry and sunny areas, shady and moist areas, windy exposed areas, protected areas against warm walls. These areas have different climatic conditions that dictate different plant choices and let you utilize any garden to its full capacity.

After determining the microclimates, next the plant combinations within a garden are truly what hold eye appeal. Blooming perennial companions offer stunning complementary colors. Tree and shrub plantings create horizontal levels of interest in addition to foliar and flowering color. Ornamental grasses and conifers combinations are rich in their textural contributions to the garden especially in fall and winter.

• I'm convinced that at the root of a good garden is healthy living soil. This means that the soil is alive with beneficial microorganisms and other soil dwellers like earthworms. This is accomplished by using natural and organic soil minerals, compost and fertilizers on the soil. You don’t fertilize your plants, you feed your soil to feed your plants. It’s the microorganisms and earthworms who breakdown the organic compost and fertilizers first before it’s available for the plant roots to absorb.

When planning your garden, keep these three important elements in mind and you can't go wrong.



Plant Combinations for Garden Design

This month we're showing two flowering plants that show each other off--one magenta, one yellow--and like compost enriched, deeply mulched soils that are kept regularly irrigated. Enjoying full sun, together they'll make large areas of any garden stand out.

Monarda x 'Violet Queen' (Violet Queen Beebalm) highlights any summer garden with its deep lavender-pink flowers. Butterflies and hummingbirds can't stay away. The fuzzy green foliage has excellent mildew resistanc; and like other Monarda varieties the 'Violet Queen' enjoys fertile garden soils. Mulch well and water regularly to keep the soil moist. Zones 4-9.

Solidago rugosa 'Fireworks' Fireworks Goldenrod has spectacular golden-yellow flowers that arch gracefully downward like glittering trails from an exploding skyrocket. This late summer/early fall bloomer is indispensable for mixing with other late blooming perennials. A very easy plant to grow, it thrives in any compost enriched soil and appreciates regular moisture.