The Charlottesville Garden Club _____________ Container Gardening

General Information

Containers provide the potential for a graden in any amount of space. The smallest one might hold a single impatiens plant or several petite plants, while a large one might harbor a tree. Keep these thoughts in mind when choosing your pots: (1) small pots require more frequent watering than large ones, (2) oversize containers need an enormous amount of potting soil. To save money, fill the bottom half of a big pot with packing peanuts or pinecones, and then fill the balance with your planting soil, and (3) one large pot makes a bold style statement and is easier to maintain than numerous small ones.

There are several things to consider in container gardens if you want them to look their best throughout the season.

• Light - are they in the sun all day or partially in shade or is the opposite true? Or is the light filtered through trees?
• Water and fertilizer - can the container be watered easily? If not, use plants that are drought tolerant such as lantanas, Star Hybrid zinnias, sun coleus, ornamental grasses, and sweet potato vines. Also consider succulent hen and chicks, sedums, and yuccas. You need to consider how often you want to water and the easiest way to accomplish this.

Multiple containers containing flowers of the same color are a lot more attractive than containers with different colors and different plants. Hint: If you have stairs leading to the front door of your home - choose one plant to emphasize and plant them in the same size containers and place on both sides of each step. This accentuates the front door as the destination.

"Potluck" Container Gardens
To minimize weight of large containers, place a layer of styrofoam "peanuts" in the bottom third of the pot and, if you wish, level it with a porous cover such as plastic screening or other filtering material (you might try old pantyhose!). Fill with your favorite potting mix or use equal amounts of sterile topsoil, compost or peat moss, composted hardwood bark mulch and sand (or substitute cat box filler). You can plant dwarf trees, shrubs and flowers in your pots. Overplant for lushness.

Container Garden Plants

Some combinations to try for sunny spots:

1. White and yellow marguerites (Chrysanthemum frutescens), Thunbergia "Susie Mix", "Calypso" portulaca", "Tangerine Gem" marigold

2. "Pink Orbit"geranium,White marguerite, "Purple Robe" Nierembergia, "Blue Boy" bachelor button, "Princess Scarlet" dianthus, "Creeping Charlie"

3. "Summer Madness" petunia (red & pink), "Firecracker" zinnia, "Blues" geranium (rose), Lotus vine (Lotus bertholettii)

4. "White Orbit" or "Ringo White" geranium, "Cascade White" petunia, "Snow Carpet" vinca, "Stella White" Campanula isophylla, "White Rocket" snapdragon, "Silver Lace" dusty miller

5. White marguerite, "Covent Garden" baby's breath (Gypsophila), "Wonderland White" alyssum, "Orchid Orbit" and "Apple Blossom Orbit" geraniums, "Wildfire" portulaca

6. "Sunray" coreopsis, "Marmalade" rudbeckia, "jubilee Gem" bachelor button, "Tapestry" nemesia, "Red Hot Sally" salvia, "Variegated creeping Charlie, "Brandy" begonia (pink)

For low light or some sun:
1. "Showtime Blaze" verbena, "Carabiniere Red" salvia "Non-Stop Scarlet" begonia, "Scarlet Wizard" coleus, Ivy

2. "Showstopper Light Lavender" impatiens, "Victoria" salvia, "Non-Stop White" begonia, Rabbit's-Foot fern, Lotus vine

3. "Pink Avalanche" begonia, "Nicki White" nicotiana, "Pink Daddy" petunia, "Pink Carpet" vinca, "Smash Hit Pink" geranium, Wandering Jew, easily grown from cuttings

4. "Sapphire" and "White Lady" lobelia, "Non-Stop Pink" and Non-Stop White" begonias, "String of Pearls" lobelia (mixed colors), "Silver Bells" and "Blue Bells" browallia, Lotus vine

More Combinations of Plants
 
Sun--African marigolds (deep yellow), petunias (yellow), Lutea ( a trailing plant,"Monopsis" for yellow flowers), Sedum lineare as a filler.
 
Sun--Best in an urn--Broom, Tulips, Ivy
 
Sun/semishade--For an urn--Pentas, Lantana, Weigela
 
Sun/semishade--A simple Spring planting: Tulips (planted in the Fall) surrounded by pansies.
 
Sun/semishade--Tulips, Hyacinths, Primroses
 
Semishade--Impatiens (pink New Guinea), Ageratum (pink), Verbena ("Maonettit", pink, trails).
 
Sun--Zonal geranium (white), Marguerites (small, white), Santolina (light yellow flowers, silver foliage), Dusty Miller (Senecio Maritima (silver foliage), Plecostachys (silver foliage trails) ,Artemisia ("Southernwood).
 
Sun--yellow Zinnias (deadhead regularly), golden Marjoram, golden Feverfew, Gazania (yellow, foliage trails)
 
Sun--Blue larkspur ("Blue Cloud", a dwarf form), Artemisia, Helichrysum ( a trailer).
 
Sun to semishade--"Pink Mist" Scabious,"Charity" Erigeron (low, spreading, pink flowers), English ivy.
 
Sun--Coleus. Lantana, varigated English Ivy (trailer).
 
Shade to semishade--Maidenhair fern, Hard shield fern, Hydrangea, Begonia.
 
Semishade--"Swan River" daisies (pink), Scaevola (pink), Artemisia
 
Shade--Impatiens, Begonia, Pansy
 
Sun/semishade--Autumn planting--Caryopteris, Heather, variegated English Ivy
 
Semishade-- Winter planting--Juniper, Wintergreen (red berries follow summer's white flowers (creeping).
 
Sun/semishade--Winter evergreens--Euonymus, Hebe "Variegata", Senecio "Sunshine", variegated English ivy.
 
Semishade--Winter planting--Skimmia  japonica ("Rubella), Viburnum "Eve Price". Skimmia ("Laureola"), variegated English Ivy
 
Sun--Winter planting--Lawson's cypress, Heather, Ivy ( "Elegance", silver edge, trails).
 
Sun/semishade--Winter planting--Winter Cherry, Skimmia, Dusty Miller
 
Hanging Baskets
Sun to semishade--Diascia (pink), Phlox (Beauty series, pink), Verbena (pink), Lobelia ("Lilac Cascade), Ivy leaved Geranium, ( "Madame Crouse", pink, trailing), Reinwardia, white, trailing)
 
Sun--Yellow Snapdragons, Yellow Pansy (Viola), Golden Ivy, Licorice plant, trails).
 
Sun--Ivy leaved geranium (dark red), Portulaca (Sundance Series, red), Verbena ("Showtime", red), Winged pea ("Lotus Berthelotit", red flowers, trailing)
 
Sun, but sheltered--Windflower (white), English Daisy(pink), Spurge (lime green), Pasque flower ("Rubra", red Anemone), Euonymous ("Emerald 'n Gold")

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