Dena Cameron is the container gardening specialist at Homestead Gardens in Davidsonville, and she gets the funniest questions from gardeners.

"They ask me if houseplants can go outside," she says. "I tell them, well, houseplants started outside."

Dena has begun including houseplants in her container arrangements for customers, although she still mixes in annuals and some perennials.

The advantage is, the containers can be brought in doors during the winter to provide color and life and won't go dormant, as perennials do. But these arrangements aren't suited to hot decks or beside pools.

"Most houseplants do best in shade or bright shade conditions," she said. "Although they can usually handle morning sun."

She includes flowering annuals that bloom in the shade, such as impatiens or begonias, to add color.

When it is time -- by Halloween at the latest -- bring the houseplant containers indoors, she advises.

But two weeks before, spray the plants with a general pesticide to thwart pest that may be hiding in the leaves or the soil. And bring it close to the house to it can adapt to the indoor light conditions.

"Try not to set them near heat vents or drafty windows," she said. "And cut back on fertilizing in winter and begin again in early spring, around March."

Here is a list of plants Dena included in the container above, plus other combinations she likes.

Continue reading "Houseplants: they have left the building" »

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Categories: Container gardening
        

Hens and chicks, the succulent that is an old staple of rock gardens, gets new life in a metal basket in this how-to video by container gardening maven, Kerry Michaels.

A whole new way to think of an "Easter basket."

Kerry, who uses absolutely everything as a container for plants, also has a new take on the Easter egg. And you won't have to worry about your cholesterol.

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Among the garden tasks I completed last weekend -- dragging all my pots and containers out of the garage, dumping the old soil into the garden and lining the pots up for a bath.

I have all kinds of pots, from plastic self-watering ones to pretty glazed pots, and including plenty of the old stand-by clay pots. And I grow everything in them, from herbs and tomatoes to succulents.

Stacey Pierson, who blogs at The Garden Plot, is talking pots today. With lots of advice from designer John Carloftis about the perfect pot for the perfect spot.

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One of my favorite spring garden chores is lining up my containers, cleaning them and filling them with fresh potting mixture.

I worry about what plants to put in later. Between fresh herbs, a new set of succulents and the annuals that strike my fancy, that usually takes care of itself.

My friend Kerry Michael, who writes about container gardening, is myth-busting again this week, warning us not to fill the bottom of our containers with gravel under the misconception that it will improve drainage.

Read Kerry's post to learn the science behind this, but the fact is, gravel will actually cause your container to hold onto water. She uses coffee filters, paper towels or a bit of window screen to keep the soil from spilling out.

But NO gravel.

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Categories: Container gardening
        

And if you keep your container gardens on the deck or otherwise close to the house, you might have even more time before you must attend to them.

But attend to them you must, or you risk cracked pots, frozen plants and complaints from neighbors about unsightly debris!

My personal container garden guru, Kerry Michaels, of about.com gives these steps for protecting your container garden from frost.

Continue reading "Protecting your container garden from frost" »

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Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Lloyd Fox

Fall.

Another season, another opportunity to plant containers - badly.

If you are like me, your containers are so poorly "composed" that you resort to one plant/one container and tell people that you like to emphasize "simplicity" in your designs. Mums and pansies. That's all there is, right?

To the rescue is my friend Kerry Michaels, who blogs on container gardening for About.com, but has also written a guest post for The Soil Sisters on fall container combinations. As always, her ideas are different and striking.

Take a read. The pictures are terrific!

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Categories: Container gardening
        

Each month, a group of garden designers, who formed the Garden Designer's Roundtable,  blog about a single issue related to gardens and garden design, and this month's topic is container gardening.

Links to the posts are collected in one place on the Roundtable web page, so it is easy to see what all the experts have to say on the topic and to see their photos.

Continue reading "Container gardenings: overflow!" »

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My container gardening guru Kerry Michaels claims to have made every mistake possible in planting her containers, some of them more than once.

So she has swallowed her pride and listed the top 10 errors gardeners make so the rest of us can avoid them. 

We've been talking a lot about container gardening here on Garden Variety -- it makes sense because this is the time of year when we are putting containers together -- so it makes sense to take a minute and read Kerry's list of do's and don't's

Continue reading "Container garden errors" »

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Dena Cameron creates the container gardens for sale at Homestead Gardens in Davidsonville, and she creates custom container gardens and hanging baskets for customers, too.

She created a dish garden with minatures for me, and I asked her advice. After all, she probably puts together 15 ro 20 container gardens a day.

Here's what she has to say:

Make sure all of the plants you choose for your container like the same conditions: lots of water, or not so much. Full sun, or part shade.

Are you disciplined enough to water regularly? Or not so much? What is the sun exposure? North, south, east or west?

Is this container for a weekend home? Then you need drought tolerant plants.

Photo credits: Baltimore Sun/Susan Reimer

Continue reading "Container gardening, Part 2: Dena's advice" »

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Categories: Container gardening
        

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

Continue reading "Container gardening: the green-eyed monster" »

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Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Susan Reimer

Try keeping container gardens alive on my deck during the heat of July and August and you will find yourself a convert to succulent container gardens, too.

That's how I spent the weekend, assembling this collection of glazed pots and the very few varieties of succulents I could find in my quadrant of Maryland.

I mixed potting soil with a product called Soil Perfector, which did such a good job of providing drainage for my tulip containers over the winter. And I added a little time-release fertilizer.

Continue reading "How I spent my weekend: succulent container gardening" »

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Categories: Container gardening
        

I certainly hope that we've established the fact that, though this should be a beautiful weekend, it might not be time to work in the garden.

Too much snow and too much rain mean the soil is probably sodden, and walking on it will compact it, eliminating the air pockets that are as important to plants as the nurtrients in the soil.

What to do? What to do?

Get your containers ready for the season.

Continue reading "If you can't contain the urge to garden..." »

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Categories: Container gardening
        

I was scrounging in garden centers for bargains when I was ambushed by a display of paperwhites.

The pretty white flowers gleamed on the dark green box, and the price wasn't much. About the same as a couple of lattes.

So I bought some.

I have only ever forced a bulb once. (I don't even like the expression. Sounds like "at gunpoint.")

My neighbor Patty gave me an amaryllis for Christmas last year, and it actually grew and bloomed for me.

But, mostly, I am "The Land Houseplants Forgot." I don't have much in the way of windowsills or good light, except through the sliding glass door in the kitchen.

I sometimes put plants on the floor there, such as the basil when it is cold outside. But generally, the family objects.

Anyway, I bought a paperwhite narcissis kit: five bulbs, soil and a little plastic pot. I did this even though I have read time and again that paperwhites, for all their virginal beauty, have a distinctly unpleasant smell.

Paperwhites are also famous for flopping over from the sheer weight of themselves, but blogger Margaret Roach of A Way to Garden, suggests mixing eight parts water to one part gin or vodka and using that mixture to water the bulbs the first few times.

She got the tip from a veteran gardener at one of her lectures who swears the booze keeps the plants' leaves short.

I'm gonna give it a shot (modest bartending joke). Thank heaven the trick doesn't call for white wine...

Photo credit: Flickr/acertainworld

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Categories: Container gardening
        

Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Jerry Jackson

For those of us who go to the garden center with a page torn out of a magazine and the fervent hope that we can re-create the picture there, P. Allen Smith has an answer.

Container garden recipe cards.

A deck of 50 cards depicting container gardens seen in his book, "P. Allen Smith's Container Gardens," is divided by season. Each card has a picture of the finished planter on the front and a shopping list and a planting diagram on the back, plus a few tips.

Each card also tells where the container would do best - sun, shade or partial shade - and tells of the design principle that Smith is using: color, shape and form, or whimsy. These design elements are described on bi-fold card that also includes a list of supplies the gardener should have on hand.

A couple of thoughts on what is otherwise a very handy product:

The cards do include - indeed there isn't room for -- a list of substitutes if you can't find the plant in the "recipe."

And, it is not immediately clear to me if the containers on the winter cards - there are only seven - are meant for outdoors, and in what zone.

The container that uses orchids is photographed on a kitchen table. I understand that that is a centerpiece. And several use evergreens, such as dwarf spruce or junipers.

But what about the one that includes snapdragons and English daisies or lamb's ear and scabiosa? How long might we expect those containers to last?

Having said that, the recipes for the spring and summer containers are a vision. And, though several of the containers are quite unusual, most are the kind of 18-inch decorative pots that are easy to find at a garden center.

This deck of cards sells for $14.99. Less on Amazon. I'd say it was worth it.

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Categories: Container gardening
        

Kerry Michaels, who writes about container gardening at about.com, has posted a stunning gallery of photos of fall containers and offers this advice:

Fall is a great time to experiment and have fun with container gardens. Try different colors and textures. Think about using perennials or trying out some cool looking, cold loving annuals in your containers.

Don't forget that a single plant in a wonderful pot can look stunning. Also, try grouping your containers and try using some pumpkins or decorative gourds to unify your design.

Take a look at her photo gallery. It is inspirational!

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Container gardening
        

It's about time to dump the geraniums and the vinca and the tired zinnias in your containers and replace them with plants that will get you through the fall -- and look like fall, too.

I am never very good at designing container combinations, so I do the next best thing.

I steal ideas I like.

Garden Design magazine has several worth stealing in this month's issue. The designs are unusual, but still simple, and a list of plants is provided. The editors have also rated the difficulty of the design and the size of the containers needed.

Take a look and let me know which ones you are going to steal!

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Categories: Container gardening