Container gardening: the green-eyed monster
I am as vulnerable as the next gardener to that other green thing: jealousy.
So, when I saw these ornate cement birdbaths planted with small plants to resemble a garden in miniature, I had to have one.
But those birthbath planters are located indoors at Homestead Gardens, and they have someone to look after them.
Mine would have to survive outdoors, and without drainage in the bottom of the birdbath, the miniature garden would be sure to wash away in the first summer storm.
Photo credits: Baltimore Sun/Susan Reimer
So I did the next best thing. This inexpensive clay bowl, shallow and with plenty of drainage, would have to do.
I asked Dena Cameron, who does custom-made container gardens for Homestead, if she could put together some Stepables and other miniature perennials, for me, and this is the result.
She chose miniature versions of cranesbill, sweet woodruff, creeping wire vine, New Zealand brass buttons and minimus aureus.
A few pretty marbles, a rock and a miniature frog, and I was all set.
This container garden should winter over, she said, if I bring into the garage and make sure it gets some window sun.
