For the black-thumbed, or uber creative types, here is another idea for you to adapt while creating your own welcoming harvest displays, or container designs.

I’ve said it before, but the fall is my favorite season, and I try and celebrate that fact uniquely in each artificial pot design I create. One thing I have learned, is that in order to create a visually believable decoration for a given season you don’t have to  bind yourself strictly to the artificial flowers and decorations that would naturally be in bloom, or the most appropriate at that specific time. For instance, a harvest themed container design like this may hold Sunflowers, Mums, and spring wildflowers in it that would never bloom at the same time in the real world- let alone all be looking perky for your Thanksgiving Dinner guests!  The key to making a variety of  flowers work together in your design is in deciding on a color palette before you begin, and choosing flowers, leaves, and accents that work together well in shape and visual feel.

In this design, the warm tones of the light orange sunflowers, work with the red tones in the grasses, mums, and autumn leaves in the pot.  I chose to use warm tones of brown, and purple to accent this, tying the harvest theme together. Since all of these flowers are associated with “informal” flower arrangements (as opposed to the formality of rose arrangements), they work well together, when grounded with overtly fall accents like the scarecrow, and the harvest leaf garland covering the dirt. I also chose to include a simple (and inexpensive) unfinished birdhouse from Michaels Crafts into this design to add a country feel to it!

I’m happy with this design! Stay tuned for more fall ideas coming soon!

Well, my best friend’s Lucky Bamboo has found a new home, and you’ll never guess who with…ok, well, you might be able to guess. You’re right, it’s me! As of this afternoon, I am now the proud owner of some miniature Bamboo, and hopefully all the glorious Feng Shui benefits that come with it!

Having been the property of a well meaning but black-thumbed individual, the plant was on a one way track to the trash can without someone to run an interception. The little Bamboo had become extremely root-bound in its previous container, and was fairly covered in limp leaves that had black mold spots on it. You would think that as a garden loving person my heart would have immediately bled for the miniature plant, but like all good Americans I didn’t really care about the plant until I was swayed by marketing campaign that convinced me that I too desperately needed some Bamboo in my life!

I was on an unrelated mission at the local Lowes Home Improvement store, when I noticed the display they had of Lucky Bamboo, and realized that I was slightly envious of her and her “little Bamboo that could.” I texted her to see if she would mind if I adopted the plant as an alternative to trashing it, and recieved the big OK from her to proceed. I immediately checked out the underwhelming selection of garden planters for small plants, but left the store emptyhanded. I decided to do a quick breeze through of a Ross department store two doors down, in case they had any quirky containers on the cheap, and found this cute green teapot that I thought would look charming as a planter! Having a slightly “Bamboo-meets-spa” type of bathroom already set up in my full bath at home, I couldn’t resist combining the two elements together to create a tranquil planter to rest on the top of my toilet. Not really knowing much about feng shui, I’m hoping that planting Bamboo in a bathroom isn’t some major faux paux! While I’m not really sure exactly what luck I would expect to find behind a bathroom door, I’ve decided that years of extreme “regularity” would be ok with me since the teapot doesn’t really go with any other room’s decor.

For some reason plants rescued or given as gifts often mean more to me over time than those I have bought for myself, and I’m already pulling for this little plant to thrive in it’s newer, and roomier container. I had to trim off a lot of foliage before I planted it, but with the potting soil and the coffee grounds I mixed in with it, the plant has a great shot of rebounding quickly with moisture and nutrients all around it. With a little TLC, I’m sure I’ll have this Lucky Bamboo around for a long time, and each time I look at it I’ll be able to remember my friendship with the Bamboo’s previous owner - something far more concrete and valuable than feng shui any day!

Your Thoughts: Are you the green-thumbed friend in your group, or are you cursed with a black thumb? Have you ever adopted a friend’s plants, or needed your friends to rescue one of yours?

Live plants aren’t the only things that will look great in your containers for the fall months! There are many clever ways that you can adapt decorations into your pots, to fill it in, or enhance the look of your favorite fall flowers.

I try and mix it up from year to year, so the multitude of container gardens I maintain during the summer each have a completely new look for the fall. I often mix mediums, with live plants, miniature hay bales, gourds, and pumpkins, or various designs including weather-safe decorations. My goal is to make a new design for each and every pot that I decorate.

For this container idea, I wanted to create a scarecrow.  I opted for artificial flowers, and accessories. You can create this look with seasonal decorations from a craft store like Michaels Crafts.  The centerpiece I used is a quirky fall directional stake, with a painted slate door decoration propped up against it. To complete the harvest theme, I planted a mum in the back, with artificial wheat, apples, and “fall pics” (seasonal clusters of decorations on a floral wrapped wire base) to fill in around the side. I chose to opt out of dried flowers, and dried wheat heads for this location, since this design is in a location open to wind and rain, and the dried flowers rot quickly in those conditions.

Your Thoughts: Do you mix mediums in your seasonal pots?  Would you enjoy seeing more of this type of mixed design featured here at greengardenista?

Kudos to the Gardens and Crafts website for their creative container idea the “Tipsy Pots“!  Always looking for new inspiration in container gardening, this charming planter idea is one I will have to try for myself this fall!  Perfect for displaying fall annuals, or keeping herbs up and out of the way of animals, this cute display is sure to charm your neighbors, and create a whimsical focal point in whatever section of the garden you choose to put it in.

Head over to gardensandcrafts.com to see step by step instructions on how to create this pot for yourself.  I’ll be putting photos up this fall to show my own variation of this planter design.

Special thanks to Ethan over at One Project Closer for sending me this link and giving me this great idea! I’ll post some pictures and a review of it when I do get around to playing with it!

Your Thoughts: Have you tried experimenting with container structures to enhance your garden, or do you prefer the clean lines of traditional container uses? Would you try the “tipsy pot” design?

Here is a bright idea for a full sun area that will assist you in cheerfully welcoming visitors to your home. This basket idea is simple, and only requires two varieties of plants!

Both considered annuals in areas with frost, African Daisies (Osteospermum), and Lantana (any variety) blend beautifully in this hanging basket, attracting butterflies, and comments galore.  I prefer this basket with only two main colors present, but both the African Daisy, and the Lantana come in several colors, which can be mixed, and matched for whatever look you want to achieve.  The African Daisy will bloom for approximately three months, and can be pruned to encourage re-blooming.  Lantana’s charm is in its tiny multi-colored blooms, which often darken with age, creating the effect of more colors present in one flower head.

Both of these plant will need to be watered on a daily basis until two weeks past the planting date, to help them establish well in the container. After that time, a regular watering schedule a few times per week will prevent the root systems from drying up.

Tip: Drier, hotter weather in the summer requires daily watering for hanging baskets, who’s root systems are not fully protected from the sun, or evaporation.  The drainage holes on a container, or the woven natural fiber lining of a cage basket, all contribute to a hanging baskets water loss, as they assist in the dehydration process.  Remember, a dry and stressed plant will first reduce the amount of blooms it produces, and a lack of watering can directly translate into a basket producing nothing but green leaves.

Your thoughts: Have you ever made a hanging basket for the summer?  What combinations of flowers did you use?  I’m always looking for new ideas!

I don’t know about you, but I really enjoy the flexibility of container gardening! Unlike established garden beds, containers can be changed seasonally or even more frequently just to suite the mood! I like the ‘play room’ containers give me to try out new plants, such as those I get occassionally as gifts from friends and family. Sometimes I use my personal pots as holding tanks for new plants undergoing a trial period - until they either prove their worth as a pot plant, or inspire me with a new bed layout that includes them. This month I have a cluster of Bachelor Buttons awaiting a verdict. Unfortunately for them, I designed some summer pots without them (at least for now), and set out renovating two large patio pots.

Around porches, I tend to use larger pots because they have a lot more space for designing and visually help bridge together in-ground plantings with taller trees and shrubs. Today I wanted to add a splash of color and texture to two pots near my door - so I planned out a perennial garden pot that should provide lasting color from late Spring through early Fall. Here’s what I did:

Funky Perennial Pot Idea:

I began with a very large pot capable of holding 3.5 cubic feet of soil, with a diameter of about 24 inches. I had two left over clumps of English Ivy in each of the pots that I decided to work with, but for my new design, I clumped them together for continuity, leaving room on another side of the pot for other trailing vines or ground covers.

My shopping list for these two pots includes:

• One gallon sized Purple Coneflower, Crimson Pixie Lily, and Dwarf Golden Threadbranch Cypress for each pot;
  
• Four inch pots of Tickseed Coreopsis (one per pot),
  
• Spotted Dead Nettle (two per pot).

My goal for this pot was to really show off the shapes and textures of some of my favorite perennials, so I mixed draping plants with the mounding and upright ones. I chose the Ivy, and the Nettle to add clumps of low-growing, draping color over the sides of the pots. The tiny purple flowers on the Nettle also attract bees and butterflies, while the multi-colored leaves of both plants look great, and brighten the edges of the pot. The Dwarf Cypress is a mounding plant that I love using, since it adds beautiful yellow color and movement wherever you plant it. Not only do I like its evergreen color, but I love that it doesn’t leave you with the scratchy growth that other evergreen ground covers do. Pruning it, or collecting cut flowers around it is never an unpleasant task, and it smells pleasantly year round.

I chose the red Lily because it is a great bloomer, and a great addition to the mid-ground of the pot. With dark green foliage to compliment the other plants, and a firm upright growth pattern, this plant will lend the pot some structure. Tickseed Coreopsis is another great mid-ground bloomer that can send out heaps of yellow blooms for five or more months straight, depending on your climate. Both the Lily and the Coreopsis also attract large amounts of pollinators to your pot, and add a height of about one foot to the design.

The centerpiece of this pot is the Purple Coneflower - my all time favorite flower. This plant will rapidly fill in the center of your pot with tall flowers up to 2 or 3 feet, and it is such a hardy native plant that it’s hard to kill if you are the forgetful type, and miss watering it. This flower will bloom from mid-Summer to frost, and attract all kinds of wildlife.

Your thoughts: Do you have a favorite perennial plant you find yourself sneaking into many of your garden spaces? What successes have you had mixing together some unusual plants?