Does anyone know which perennials would do well in containers? I have 2 big whiskey barrels in front of our garage and really want to put something other than annuals in them (getting too costly) :-? I thought about daylilies, since I love them, but the one I have in there now is really struggling.
strats--Is the container deep enough? I ask because I have had good luck with 'Stella d'oro' daylilies in containers. You probably know this, but you have to be particularly careful about adequate watering & fertilizing containers. I often put some of those water retaining crystals in them to ease the watering burden. I have also had good luck with dahlias in containers. (You can keep re-using them year after year!). Also cannas. I also have an azalea in a container. Beautiful in the spring, and just a nice healthy looking shrub the rest of the summer. It is a good back drop to other blooming containers. Sorry Strats--I just re-read your post, & read you have whiskey barrels. They should be plenty deep enough! dahlia, just coming into bloom ( photo / image / picture from Cayuga Morning's Garden ) Dahlia, with parsley at its base ( photo / image / picture from Cayuga Morning's Garden ) Canna. This is a tall one. I have grown shorter ones. ( photo / image / picture from Cayuga Morning's Garden ) Azalea, just coming into bloom ( photo / image / picture from Cayuga Morning's Garden )
I love that dahlia!!! I think the barrels are deep enough but the soil might be useless :-? It's been in there a long time. I think I'll pick up some fresh potting soil tonight after work and "doctor them up" this weekend. Certainly can't hurt! Is that canna growing in a trash bag?? That is really shallow for such a big plant Maybe I need to find some cannas!!!
I always plant any perennials that I want to protect from slugs and my carelessness in pots. This year it was dahlias, lilies and canary grass with a trailing annual. The lilies bloomed first and now the dahlias are beginning to bloom. (Sorry for the poor quality of the photos) Mixed lilies, canary grass, dalahas ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden ) This hodgepodge of plants was gathered to provide a little shade on the western side of the smoke shake. I couldn't get the height of the cedar tree in the photo since this is a really tight little area. Dwarf pampas grass, autumn joy, cedar tree with sedum ground cover ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden ) I love having structure on the patio so I always have an evergreen or three or four in large pots. A mungo pine has been in a large pot for 15 yrs or so. This year I added annuals when I needed to lift and add more soil to the pine's pot. Mungo pine and petunias ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden ) Magnolia tree ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden ) I haven't figured out where to plant a little magnolia tree so it is in a pot. My dwarf pampas grass will probably always live in a pot like the pine. These plants have my largest pots. Every few years I find I have to pull the plant out of the pot and add more soil mix to the bottom. The soil tends to settle over time. Really easy sedums make nice trailers for long term pots with trees. Sedums can also make a great statement on their own. Especially when mixed with larger varieties like Autumn Joy. When the Autumn joy blooms it is really an eye catcher in a pot. Different varieties of Autumn joy with other sedums ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden ) Mixed little sedums ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden ) If you use a good quality potting mix, large pots, remember to water you should be able to grow just about anything you love. More mixed pots ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )
Will Hibiscus grow for you up there? With whiskey barrels... I would think you could grow practically any kind of perennial in it.
WOWIE ZOWIE!!! Those are amazing! I never thought of sedum... We treat hibiscus as an annual because our winters get so cold Never thought of a tree either...
Jewell, I love your containers!!! Well done!!! Strats, You found me out. Yes, the low cannas are in a garbage bag with only peat moss for a growing medium. I hadn't gotten around to planting them yet. The tall canna, behind is in a big pot. Guess what I have done since I posted those photos? Planted all those cannas!!!!
Ok...ok here is proof that I have finally planted those long neglected cannas #1 ( photo / image / picture from Cayuga Morning's Garden ) I like to throw them in with the tall perennials ( photo / image / picture from Cayuga Morning's Garden ) See...no garbage bag anymore! ( photo / image / picture from Cayuga Morning's Garden )
There was nothing wrong with that garbage bag I am just AMAZED that those big things grew in that little bit of moss Good job getting them all planted~ but you certainly didn't have to do it for us!
They were overdue. The really tall ones were already in a pot. Good 'experiment' because only the garbage bag ones were so short.
Those are great containers! I love all of them. I have several kinds of sedums in containers, they love it and do very well. Any time some breaks off, just pop it in the ground or a container, and it will grow. My cannas are in tubs this year. I have had them for several years and they have not yet bloomed for me. Last year, they were in my grand daughter's old blue wading pool that I made into a garden container after it began cracking and leaking. Now, I need to get boards [or rocks or cinder blocks] to make sides for it because it is falling to peices. I figured it was too shallow for the cannas. I dont think my elephant ears liked it either, because they have died off. The Jerusalem artichokes and sedums and lilies love the wading pool, and are helping to split the sides open. I have a weeping pussy willow tree in an old wringer washing machine tub [not the rinse tubs], and it is thriving. It does need a lot of water. The tub has a large opening in the bottom, so I am sure the little pussy willow can send its roots deep into the soil. Also the same for an old washing machine tub of daylilies. I do have to dig some out of it every few years because they reproduce abundantly. I would think any tree in a tub should have a large opening in the bottom for the roots to go deeper than the tub. And leave it where you put it. That is interesting that your cannas grew so well in a trash bag. Do you take yours indoors over the winter ? I do, because they are not hardy in my area.
AAn, I keep trees in pots for the patio. They are like large bonsai trees. You are right that if you want them to get big they should be allowed to get their roots into the ground. Most varieties of trees I have found do well for at least five years without root pruning in a large pot. Some do better than others. The mungo pine has never needed root trimming, but i have trimmed the branches. Some of my favorite trees are sale items. The cedars were only $2.50 each so how could I resist
A bargain like that is hard to resist. Are they unusual types of cedars, or just ordinary red cedars that grow wild in the midwest ? If anyone wants cedars, I have them! Maybe I should start potting up the babies to sell. Around here, everyone cuts them down as weed trees.
AA, they are some sort of droopy cedar. I didn't keep the tags...guessing Weeping Alaskan cedar. I am with you on all the weed tree seedlings Today alone I must have pulled a nice variety of alder, maple, holly, cedar, walnut and hazelnut seedlings. I have even mailed some to other Stewbies
ok jewell where was I when you were mailing out tree seedlings I would love to have any and all trees I can get my hands on I have a pear tree dd gave me the other day that I am going to plant today if you still have any to spare let me know and I will pm you my address
