On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 05:59:54 +0000 (UTC), Franz Heymann wrote:

[Me on my garish planter:]
Ceramic, square, probably Chinese or Vietnamese manufacture,
about 2' high and 15 " to 18" square. Beautiful cloudy soft
gray-green glaze. Modern, not old.

The whole thing is a riff on the "hanging basket" concept, and is
therefore planted quite thickly with "basket stuffers". When you
do this, you *must* be generous with both water and fertilizer to
get the best results.

It still sounds overplanted. But in a way I feel like emulating next
year.

The essence of hanging baskets and such is overplanting. You want
*fullness*, to the point that the container is obscured.

Perhaps a description of this year's efforts might be of
interest:

1. The big square Chinese planter already described, with the
really garish, clashing combination of colors.

2. A fake-Romanesque baptismal font: filled with trailing lobelia
in white and shades of blue, as I try to do every year.
Regrettably, there seems to be no trailing lobelia cultivar quite
as dark as the non-trailing 'Crystal Palance Compacta' --
'Pendula Sapphire' has a white eye. I find the combination of
pale blue and dark blue lobelia a surprisingly powerful one, but
you can do it better with non-trailing cultivars. Try alternating
'Cambridge Blue' with 'Crystal Palace Compacta' for a really
eye-catching display -- like a huge electrical spark.

3. My patriotic planter, a big green-glazed pot planted up in
reds and whites. The main plants are white and red verbenas,
cultivars from the "Proven Winners" line. These are supplemented
with white and red callibrachoas, a white shrubby mimulus, and a
"red" anagallis. One of the two red callibrachoas is a scarlet
that matches the red verbena very well, but the other is more of
a crimson and clashes somewhat. The mimulus is a failure. And the
anagallis is orange-red (not scarlet), though it doesn't offend
and harmonizes fairly well.

4. My full-spectrum planter, with a coral verbena, pale blue
trailing lobelia, and a yellow callibrachoa, plus the same
goddamned almost-red-but-not-quite-red anagallis. This works very
well. Good mix of color and growth habit.

5. The yellow-blue planter, with two pale yellow osteospermums,
two yellow callibrachoas, some little daisy like affairs in mauve
and yellow, and a deep lapis-lazuli blue anagallis. The idea was
to have a yellow planter with some contrasting blue in it. Nice
enough, but I won't try this combination again. One of the
callibrachoas is a much clearer yellow than the other, and the
yellow daisy-like affair is too bright a yellow to work. And the
other is too purple and not blue enough. Felicia would have been
a better choice. Also, the container is in a position that is
shaded in the afternoon, and the osteospermums aren't entirely
happy. They need full sun to do their best, it seems.



--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
[change "atlantic" to "pacific" and
"invalid" to "net" to reply by email]

"Just Molly" wrote in message
news:7p1Dc.86$6r.50@newsfe2-win...

"Ian Cox" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 25 Jun 2004 21:48:11 +0100, Just Molly wrote:


Hmmm, this isn't working very well is it? I didn't really mean what
garden
pests don't you like as nobody likes garden pests. I *meant* what
garden
features or plant do you dislike. You know how you drive past a garden
and
think, oh that's just *awful* to look at. or bloody hell how naff, or
My
god
are they *colour blind*!

OK, how about 40ft. monkey puzzle trees growing smack in front of a
window?
Thass the sorta thing I meant :0)



Planting is a personal thing!
Each to their own! Whatever the colour or scheme!
People can do whatever they want in their own garden it's their own artistic
interpretation.

Better planting of something than nothing at all!

On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 18:50:19 GMT, lid
(Rodger Whitlock) wrote:


The essence of hanging baskets and such is overplanting. You want
*fullness*, to the point that the container is obscured.

Couldn't put it better miself ;-0

Rod

Weed my address to reply

http://website.lineone.net/~rodcraddock/index.html

On Mon, 28 Jun 2004 07:43:25 +0100, Kay
wrote:

~In article , jane jane@moonrose.
~demonmapson.co.uk writes
~On Sat, 26 Jun 2004 14:14:09 +0100, Kay
~wrote:
~~
~~The little scented pink bindweed is lovely.
~
~yer what?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
~
~please, come and take all pink bindweed you can find out of my
~lottie!!!!!
~
~I'll make you cups of tea/coffee/whisk(e)y or whatever!
~
~(But you have to promise to take all of it)
~
~But I can't take advantage of you like that! Tell you what - in return,
~I'll give you all of my Alchemilla mollis.

I haven't got any of that yet... ;-)

.... but I could throw in some nigella this end (been trying to get
rid of it for some years - wouldn't mind if it wasn't an insipid
grey-blue rather than the brighter coloured forms)

And if you know anyone who likes speedwell, I can do them a nice
deal...


--
jane

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone,
you may still exist but you have ceased to live.
Mark Twain

Please remove onmaps from replies, thanks!

In article , jane jane@moonrose.
demonmapson.co.uk writes
On Mon, 28 Jun 2004 07:43:25 +0100, Kay
wrote:
~
~But I can't take advantage of you like that! Tell you what - in return,
~I'll give you all of my Alchemilla mollis.

I haven't got any of that yet... ;-)

... but I could throw in some nigella this end (been trying to get
rid of it for some years - wouldn't mind if it wasn't an insipid
grey-blue rather than the brighter coloured forms)

I have some of the pale blue in our 'meadow' - it looks amazingly nice
surrounded by the feathery flowers of the grasses.

And if you know anyone who likes speedwell, I can do them a nice
deal...

Germander speedwell (deep blue flowers) or the little field speedwell?
Got lots of both of those - the germader speedwell looks really nice
around the pond.


--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

"Tumbleweed" writes:

cats

Cat wee on the lawn

Rats in the compost bins.

Ground elder from next door (both sides)

Greenfly on the apple tree

Woodpigeons and collar doves.

Starlings scaring off the robins and sparrows

These are a few of my non-favourite things

G

"Just Molly" wrote in message news:Nw0Dc.68$6r.49@newsfe2-win...
I hate lawns. Huge expanses of nothingness however well cared for they are.
I also hate neatly cut edges and borders with alternating blue and white
lobelia and red salvias.
's true.

I'm waging war on Docks and goosegrass this week. But they are only
doing what they do.

On Fri, 25 Jun 2004 21:08:30 +0100, "Just Molly"
wrote:

Grey squirrels and magpies

John
In limine sapientiae

"Robert E A Harvey" wrote in message
om...
"Just Molly" wrote in message
news:Nw0Dc.68$6r.49@newsfe2-win...
I hate lawns. Huge expanses of nothingness however well cared for they
are.
I also hate neatly cut edges and borders with alternating blue and
white
lobelia and red salvias.
's true.

I'm waging war on Docks and goosegrass this week. But they are only
doing what they do.