Front Entry Pots

We moved the tall containers, that I got as a Mother's Day gift years ago, with us from Illinois.  They were heavy and bulky and I was so worried they would break in the move, but I love them and it was worth the risk to me.  They fit well in the front entryway to the house and the colors even work with the new house.  Not perfectly, but close enough.

My goal for this planting was to combine some lovely Heuchera and Coleus for the foliage and then mix in a few more plants for interest.  Even though the front door faces south this spot is full shade because of the porch roof.  The plant on the east side does get a tiny bit more reflected light in the late afternoon so occasionally we just switch the liner pots inside the taller containers to keep the growth more even. 

I started with 'Obsidian' Heuchera because I am a sucker for the dark foliage.  Then I added in 'Neon Lights" Tiarella because I loved the cut leaf foliage and also the dark veining which played nicely with the Heuchera.  I wanted a Coleus with smaller leaves for contrast.  The Greenhouse didn't have a huge selection available yet since I was there so early in the season but Solenostemon hybrida 'Burgundy Wedding Train' seemed like a good choice.  The leaf shape spoke to the Tiarella and the colors worked well too.  I needed a taller plant for the back so I went with this lovely grass which had a nice airy feel to it.  (I've lost the plant tag, if it shows up, I'll edit accordingly).  Then I added a Bacopa, which is a nice no-fail trailing plant.  I chose Snowstorm because I knew the small white flowers would add a little sparkle in and around the dark leaves.  The last choice was something that flowered well in shade.  Easy choice to go with a Begonia.  I don't use them a lot because they tend to be a bit delicate, especially when it is time to transplant them but they like the shade and the flowers are pretty.  I hemmed and hawed a little bit about which color I wanted but finally decided on a nice soft yellow.  'Solenia' seems to be very happy in this spot and brings a nice soft touch of light to the pot and to the front door.  The nice surprise is that the petals are tinged with just a touch of rosy pink as they age which plays nicely with the other colors in the container. 

A new shade garden for Marianne

Apparently, it was a rough spring for impatiens, which meant Marianne couldn't plant them in the shallow bed in front of the duplex. 

Grandma Hendricks and I spent a fun morning looking for shade loving perennials while Rob very kindly turned the soil and got the bed ready for planting.  The soil ended up being really nice so when we got back with our choices we went right to work.

We started out at Home Depot but were mightily disappointed in their selection of shade perennials and their Hosta's didn't look very healthy so we left and went to Anderson's Seed and Garden.  I haven't been there since Rob and I registered for wedding gifts over 30 years ago.  I was very impressed with their selections and their service.

We were initially thinking about doing just hosta and huechera but once we saw the options available we decided to go for a more of a real shade garden. 

Here are the plants we added.

Astilbe 'Vision in Red'

Height 15", Blooms midsummer with deep red buds that open into a lovely reddish pink.

Astilbe ' Rock & Roll'

(I'll add a picture when it is in bloom because right now it looks almost like the astilbe above)

Height 20", Blooms midsummer with clear white blossoms.

Hosta 'Blue Mouse Ears'

Height 8", Spread 12", blooms early summer with short spikes of lavender flowers. 

This is a great miniature Hosta.  It stays compact and the blue-green leaves really look like mouse ears.  It's adorable and is easy to tuck into any shade garden because it is so well behaved.

Athyrium niponicum 'Pictum'

Japanese Painted Fern

Height 12", Spread 12"-15"

This fern is always a nice addition to a shade garden because the lovely foliage adds a touch of interest and brightness.  The range of colors tie the foliage of the plants we chose together.  Besides that, it is just pretty to look at.

Hosta 'Big Daddy'

Height 24", Spread 36", lilac blooms in midsummer.
I'm excited to see this plant mature as the leaves will get really large, with a cupped, almost quilted look.  These Hosta are quite substatial in size but will not overpower the size of the bed.

Hosta 'Francee'

Height 18", Spread 24", Midsummer lavender blooms.

We chose this Hosta because it was the closest match to the one Marianne had planted already.  I was trying to create small groupings of Hosta with the perennials tucked in between for interest.  I do like the white edges as it gives a touch of brightness to a very dark, shady spot.

Cimicifuga 'Hillside Black Beauty'

Black Snakeroot

Height, 48", blooms pinkish-white, fragrant bottle-brush clusters in late summer

I love the foliage on this plant and just as the flowers on the other plants in the bed start winding down, this will start coming into it's full glory. 

Ligularia 'Britt-Marie Crawford'

and

Brunnera ...

Siberian Bugloss

We needed another small plant to fill in the middle of the bed and I decided to grab this Brunnera instead of putting in another 'Blue Mouse Ears' Hosta.  I lost the tag, so I'm not sure if this is 'Jack Frost' or another variety, but they all get to be about the same size , 18" tall) and have similar blue flowers in spring.

The Ligularia is a bit of an experiment.  I haven't grown one before and they do like quite a bit of water, but if it survives will be a nice touch of color in the bed.

Heuchera 'Ruby Bells'

Coral Bells

Height 16", Blooms late spring to midsummer

After starting with a plan to fill the bed with Hosta and Heuchera I think it's kind of funny that we only actually put in one variety.  We both loved the color of these blooms and I like the brightness of the foliage.

Here is the final result, the day after we planted. 

It actually looks good in person and will look great as the plants mature and grow. As always, the rule for perennials is, "First year they sleep, Second year they creep, Third year they leap". So, I'll have to come back next summer and the summer after that to see how Marianne's garden grows.

New Season of Life

Spring is here in North Logan.  It's a different type of spring than I have grown accustomed to.  It's a different altitude and a different zone (to say nothing of the difference in humdity levels).  It's crazy to think that I lived and gardened in Chicagoland for 20 years.  I don't feel that old and I don't feel that experienced.  But now it is time to adapt to gardening here. 

First change - we are several zones colder!  Since the winters in Chicago get so cold I thought that the gardening zones would be similar from place to place.  But apparently here in Cache Valley we are zone 3-4.  That means flowers are slower to come out and that my container gardens get started later in the spring.  I'm used to planting my annuals right around Mother's Day and now I have to wait clear until Memorial Day. 

However, it's been such a warm spring and our front porch is so protected that I decided to jump the gun a little bit and planted up some perennials over the weekend.  It feels so good to have a pretty pot to greet me at the door.

I went with my good old standby's, Hosta 'Brim Cup', Heuchera 'Plum Pudding' and Pennisetum 'Rubrum'.  I added in a pretty Dianthus 'Coconut Surprise' for blooms.  I don't know how long she will bloom, or if I will get much rebloom from her, so I may take her out and replace her with a long blooming annual once it really warms up and we get well into May.

Even if we get below 32 degrees at night I think these plants will hold up okay.  Especially considering that the porch is very sheltered.

Sorry about the image quality, the flash washed the colors out.  I obviously need to practice shooting without the flash. 

The colors actually play very nicely together in this combination.  I thought about using Hosta 'Patriot' to play off the white from the Dianthus but the green and yellow in 'Brim Cup' worked so much better with the other foliage colors. 

I still need to add a "spiller" to the pot, and will do that once we are past Mother's Day.

We should be closed on our house early enough next fall that I can go ahead and plant these in the ground once we move in.  I'm not sure if the deer will eat them or not.  Another thing for me to learn about and discover.

In other news.  We put together a quick and easy raised bed garden so Aunt Marianne could grow her tomatoes this summer.  It was much bigger than we expected so I decided to claim half of it for myself and planted lettuce and peas.  First time in years I haven't had to fight rabbits for a salad!

Front Door Container

For my Mother's Day gift, R and I spent the morning at The Growing Place choosing flowers for the large containers at the front door. 

I love, Love, LOVE this establishment and could easily visit once a week (or more), just to see how their display gardens change through the seasons, or to find a little something that needs a home in a corner of my garden somewhere, or to find inspiration in one of their display areas, or to get a question answered. 

As we arrived they announced that they were beginning a Garden Tour in five minutes so we joined in.  During our walk through the display gardens we decided that we wanted to try using a Hosta as the focal plant of the container.  R mentioned that he likes the way the Sweet Potato Vine looks trailing down the container so we tried to choose a Hosta that would be tall, but not too wide that also had a touch of yellow in the leaves.  Once we had those two plants we both agreed that we love the way Heuchera looks in the container.  We like the wispy blooms and the substance of the plant itself so I pulled out three or four that I thought would work and put them in the wagon to get a feel for the size of the leaves and the color of the foliage. 

As I was planting the container Saturday afternoon, I realized that three plants just was not going to cut it in creating the full and lush look that I was going for so I grabbed the Begonia that had been purchased for the patio grouping and added that in.  I was getting closer to the look, but wasn't quite there so this morning I went back to the nursery to grab a couple of extra fillers. 

I chose a nice Pennisetum for the wispy height it will bring in.  It will carry the color up and through the entire planting without making it top heavy.  I also picked up a Calibrachoa for the touch of hot pink to draw the eye in.  I knew the Begonia had a pinky flower, but couldn't remember if it was more coral pink or bright pink (it's coral - hope it still looks good together).

I'm thrilled with the look on day one. 
Now I just have to remember to keep it watered and fertilized so it will grow lush and full and lovely.  These plants each have the potential to get good sized so it will be fun to watch them fight for dominance in the pot.   

Hosta 'Sagae'
Begonia 'Gryphon' (??)
Ipomoea 'Marguerite' (Sweet Potato Vine)
Calibrachoa 'Cabaret Hot Pink'
Heuchera 'Burnished Bronze'
Pennisetum 'Rubrum' (Purple Fountain Grass)