By Sue Healey ~ Tillsonburg Horticultural Society
August has arrived, as full and heavy as the storm clouds building on the horizon. This month will bring us all the bounty we’ve been working for. Where June is full of promise and July full of work, August is full of the fruits of our labour. It’s full of tomatoes on toast for lunch and peaches eaten over the sink. It’s a month of drowsy afternoons and suppers outside. A month oflong, slow twilights that melt into starry skies. August is so fulland the garden needs nothing more than my admiration. A good thing too, as the heat and humidity conspire to keep me to theshade, languid as an old cat. Only watering the pots is a priorityin this last month of summer. August is when most of my container gardens come into their own. As I go about the daily chore of watering, I am reminded of how important a garden feature they are. How potted plants extend the garden season beyond traditional time frames, plant materials, and colour schemes. Whatever the situation, there is most likely a pot full of plants that would it make it better.
My collection of container gardens is large and varied, acombination of houseplants and annuals, punctuated with specimen plants that come indoors over winter. Planted in a range of sizes and types, placed in full sun to full shade, these pots become a second and third tier to the main garden. They bring greenery to paved areas around the house and provide a welcome at both entries. One of my favourite full sun plantingsthis year combines dwarf banana (Musa Tropicana) with theannual million bells (Calibrachoa) in a searing, pinky-orange. Both are highlighted by the silver needles of licorice plant(Helichrysum). The banana leaves are splotched with maroon,echoing the colour of the calibrachoa throats as they spill over the edge of the urn or twine their way through the licorice plant’s icy branches. This planting shines at the far end of the garden and is a combination to repeat in years to come.
For troubled areas like our front porch, container gardens can be the only solution. A cold, northern exposure that is dark for most of the day, this part of the house also gets scorched each afternoon by full sun. That strong, and increasingly hot sunshineoften burns the delicate shade lovers that do well in low light. This year’s coleus collection and eyelash begonia is handling that difficult transition with aplomb. One coleus is a standout and has already been trimmed for cuttings.
This one comes unnamed with leaves of rusty copper that are opalescent in sunshine. The large leaves age to a sweet, sunset pink, serratedin lime green. It’s partnered with another coleus of deep maroon, with lime green flower bracts that further echo the streaks on the begonia. Button fern adds an airy quality and a lone variegateddracaena (Dracaena reflexa), height. All of it, a fabulous combination and a colour scheme that could be expanded on for different situations or plant availability.
Some of my most successful outdoor planters have been with succulents. Their hardy nature, drought and heat tolerance make them ideal candidates for containers. There are a myriad of plant profiles and habits so that whole landscapes can be created in a single container. Given proper care many succulents can live for decades and will reveal enhanced leaf colour or even bloom when summered outdoors.
This year’s best example is a grouping of African milk tree (Euphorbia trigona) which, after 3 years in a 5-gallon tub, now towers above a red tipped jade tree (Crassula ovata) and striped Aloe (Aloe variegata). These are fronted by starfish sansevieria (Sansevieria Cylindrica) which has sent it’s cylindrical leaves in amongst the milk tree’s branches in search of room to grow. A miniature landscape contained in pot. And when those plants need room to grow, easily reproduced as specimens in separate vessels but groupedtogether, making a greater visual impact and watering more efficient.
Whether it is a pot full annuals, a kitchen garden by the back door or a collection of houseplants on their summer holiday, container gardens give us as much pleasure as any garden bed and often a better range of choices. Planters can fill the empty spots left by those plants that die back after flowering or provide a focal point to an otherwise drab area. Easily changeable outover the seasons, they add colour, shape and texture to otherwise bare spaces. They give us license to experiment and maybe best of all, reason to get out of the shade.
Next general meeting is September 3, 2024 at 7:30, Tillsonburg Senior Centre. Master Gardener Robert Pavlis will present “Lesser-Known Spring Bulbs.” All welcome. Membership $20/year or $4/ meeting. Come as a guest, stay as a member.
📷Sue
