Podcasting with Dr. Linda: Year Round Container Gardening!

Listen to Linda's podcast on her least favorite and unnecessary garden products followed by my consultation at Sky Nursery with her podcast engineer, Shelli, who wants to improve the appearance of her small yard. I recommend that she start with a container garden so we discuss simple solutions to having a great container planting that looks great year around and is relatively easy to care for.

They had to edit for time, but we covered a lot of ideas and plants, but it's helpful to get folks started!

Hope you'll take a listen!


Riz

A lady named Wendy. She does awesome containers!

I've been so out of the loop with NHS (Northwest Horticultural Society), but I have to mention their upcoming lecture at the Center for Urban Horticulture on Wednesday evening because my friend Wendy will be speaking on her forte, container planting design.



November 9, 2011
Container Confidential
Wendy Welch

Garden designer Wendy Welch shares what she has learned in 15 years of designing, installing and maintaining container gardens. Gorgeous plant combinations of trees, shrubs, conifers, perennials and annuals will inspire you. The dispelling of some long lived mythology about container culture — drainage, soils, water, fertilizer, longevity etc. will empower you to plant successful, sustainable container gardens.

-------------------------------------------
Wendy has earned a huge reputation as one of the Northwest's best container designers. Her work can be seen all over the Seattle metropolitan area and has been featured at local nurseries, the Northwest Flower and Garden Show and she is a fellow part time faculty member at Edmonds Community College where she teaches container design.

What I love about Wendy is her perky personality, her familiarity with both hardscape materials AND plants, her concern for the environment and looking for ways to move forward to meet the demands and desires of her clients. She also uses color well. My most favorite thing about her is what I love about most garden folks is her willingness to share her love, her craft and her vast knowledge and experiences with others. This is key for our industry.




So, you've gotta see her talk on Wednesday and check out some of her beautiful work and get some wonderful ideas for your container plantings with winter!!


R

Winter Containers

After a successful talk at this year's Northwest Flower and Garden Show, I gave away a handful of plants, but kept a handful to pot up some containers to spruce up the townhouse where I'm currently living.

Here's what I threw together:


A large Western Red Cedar resides up front with some non-descript deciduous Cotoneasters at the base. It needed a focal point. I'm almost tempted to redo it and planting something with larger, bolder foliage that can be seen as neighbors drive by.


So Hellebores have been so hot this early season and there's so many to choose from now, it's so incredibly fun to work with.


This was the composition I demonstrated at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. Highlighting a most spectacular hardy Citrus (Poncirus) trifoliata 'Flying Dragon' flanked with black mondo grass, sweet flag and a bright Sedum acre 'Aureum'. Tried to squeeze in Brunnera 'Jack Frost't, but I couldn't. This was an exercise in color contrast and textures.







And got the approval that the roomies dig 'em!


R

Winter Comes Early to Seattle!

So, I'm at work all by myself today. Not realizing that the UW closed operations due to snow, I took the bus and went to work. Luckily a fellow gardener came as well and we had nothing to do besides shovel and sand the pathways, but since I can't really do my regular tasks, I'm trying to get caught up on all sorts of stuff while I'm here in the office.

I've been moving and shifting potted plants like crazy and installing like a madman before this sudden onset of winter conditions. I feel like I have everything under control and things that didn't get brought in will just have to tough it out. The snow should provide some protection.

Yesterday, I snapped some photos from work and really enjoyed the effect of snowfall on plants and the wonderful shapes, patterns and textures that emerge with a light dusting of powdery white:

This is Helleborus argutifolius 'Silver Lace' covered in snow. Notice the overall globe effect and the texture the leaflets create with the snow covering them.

Forgetting to deadhead certainly has its advantages come winter as this Phlomis russelliana, or Jerusalem Sage, looks attractive with its tiered seedheads. That's rosemary in the back.

Containers right now, if properly designed with the appropriate plant materials, can looks absolutely fantastic.




Then there's plants like this Hosta 'Halycon' that just started to die down for the winter that got caught mid-freeze and makes for a really unusual winter display.



The winter landscape isn't complete without ornamental grasses. These Pennisetum look lovely with their dense spikes capturing a bit of snow to look as if it's suspended mid-air. They're so elegant and low maintenance plants almost all year round.



What a gloomy day yesterday and now it's bright and sunny but well below freezing. I don't dare drive in these conditions, even though I have 4-wheel drive and all. I've seen too many accidents occur and that's just something I don't need to deal with right now.

Gardener needs time to reflect, plan and rest..

Container Craze

So, I've been on sort of a roll in assembling container plantings this fall and I've been trying to build up a portfolio of some of my work.

I can't tell you how much fun it is to pick out plants and create an instant garden in a portable object that can either remain as is or be allowed to develop into something grand, wild, and over-the-top fabulous!

Planting containers is like flower arranging. You tend to emphasize what it'll look like right now versus what it'll look like in a few months. When planting up containers for clients, it obviously has to look great from the get-go, but as you water and feed them like there's no tomorrow, they billow and grow and flop and, most importantly, they're usually fascinated by the transformation.

Here's some current examples of pots I threw together last week!




This container was donated for an auction to benefit the Dunn Garden in North Seattle. It features a golden Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Tetragona Aurea', Heucherella 'Stoplight', black mondo grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens'), and a fabulously dwarf and delightful box honeysuckle (Lonicera nitida 'Twiggy').

Another container I put together was a bit of an ambitious attempt where, yes, I cared about its initial appearance, but I just jam-packed it full of wonderful stuff just to see what will happen.



So this container was actually a gift to Clayton's mom, who helps run CEM Design (read about him and his work). I actually surprised Clayton by visiting their headquarters in Kirkland and I just missed her by like 30 seconds to see what she thought. So, my "backbone" for this container is the elegant Japanese Cedar 'Sukkan Sugi' and at the base to the left is the whorl of fronds from Dryopteris erythosora or Autumn Fern left over from my nursery stock, I sneaked in 'Twiggy' on the other side with a corkscrew rush (Juncus effusus 'Spiralis') with sweetflag (Acorus gramineus 'Ogon') at the base behind, and towards the front you'll see the spiky evergreen foliage of a Pacific Coast Hybrid iris called 'Ami Royale', which is a pale violet with deep purple centers and a gold-highlighted crest and, finally, spilling over the front is another Heucherella 'Tapestry'. Oh, I think I tucked in a little black mondo as well. CRAZY! Hope Mrs. Morgan likes it! hehe.

Finally, I have this kick-ass ceramic, blue glazed bowl that I planted Mahonia 'Soft Caress' in. Near by are the same plant, but finally in the ground so I can compare the two growing conditions. (can you tell i have a thing for his lapis-blue color ceramic glazed containers? hahaah) Looking kind of boring by itself, I planted it with a dwarf creeping Euonymus fortunei 'Minimus', a few plugs of Cardamine trifolia, a winter Calluna vulgaris 'Firefly' and spilling over the edge is a dramatic Vinca 'Illuminator'.

Russian spies, an Israeli computer scientist, and a Filipino-American Gardener

What do they have in common?


This bizarre story:

Russian spies were recently convicted in Virginia a few weeks ago and the buzz around Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood has been the apartment building where two used to live; a young couple by the name of Patricia Mills and Michael Zottoli. To those who knew them, they were quiet, friendly, and were the ideal tenants according to the apartment managers, who happen to be friends of mine.

About three years ago, I was sort of involved with a computer scientist from Israel who hired me to design and assemble a few containers for a deck on the top floor.
While things didn't quite work out between us, the three original containers multiplied as the interest in plants and gardening grew (according to the managers who lived next door who let me go on their balcony to check on my plantings to make sure they were being taken care of). haha





So apparently, my container plantings and their excessive need for water being on a hot, exposed, southwestern exposure pissed off a couple Russian spies.

Oh, here's what the containers looked like. The small one made it on an issue of Fine Gardening magazine last year!!





CRAZY!!!!!!!


R

The Overwhelmed Gardener. Part 3: The King Country Master Gardener's Sale

Another plant sale is upon us and it's another big event. In terms of number of vendors, it's considerably smaller than Florabundance, but the show the Master Gardener's put on is quite remarkable. They certainly make a weekend of it with various booths, tents, organized activities for kids, and various workshops and classes the public can take part in.

The King County Master Gardener's have been facing tough times as funding continues to be an ongoing issue for this well known and highly respected organization. It's essentially on the same page as everyone else trying to garner as much support as possible.

While I'm not vending at this sale, I contributed by designing a container for their raffle and donating a gift certificate to my nursery. Yes, another time consuming effort, but I certainly enjoyed putting the composition together and, hopefully, people like my work enough to hire me to do something similiar for them. I think it's also an outlet for me to show off, I guess. haha

Noticed I used that Mahonia 'Soft Caress' once again. =)


I had extra plants and since I was debating which container to use, I potted up both since I had enough plant material. This second piece went to my sister's house in West Seattle.




They hold the raffle on Sunday so I guess there's still a chance to see my container in person, but really....do support the Master Gardeners and the many local vendors who have once again come out to showcase their best plants for all to see, admire and add to their growing landscapes.

Visit their website here for directions and more information!

It's time to really get some work done outside our own homes!! Just be sure to visit the sale first and with the location being at the Center for Urban Horticulture, see the gardens and get inspired!


Cheers,

R

Instant container gardens at Costco!

So, they're selling these preplanted evergreen containers at Costco during this holiday mad rush, but they don't seem to be moving that quickly. They're pretty well done, just not flashy enough, maybe? For under $30, its quite a steal.