The Pretty Pot: "Thriller Filler Spiller"

Recently, Evan asked if i might plant something nice by our front door.  Obviously, the answer was yes.  This afforded me the opportunity to buy new plants, explore the world of shade plants, and also come up with a pretty display pot.  It is an art, if you let it be one.

So how do you pick the perfect pot of plant?  First there's the pot, which I won't say much about.  You need to consider your space which affects the size, shape, and color of pot you will choose.  There are also a variety of types of pots available -- ceramic, plastic, terracotta, metal, wood...  it's a topic we can cover another day.  

Then there's the type of plant which will grow well in your pot.  What is the microclimate of the pot's location?  Sun, part sun, shade?  Is the pot one that will dry out quickly?  Is it very hot or windy?  All things that will narrow down your plant selection, and thank goodness, because I have a hard time choosing regardless.

What I really want to talk about is something that is not a new concept in the garden world:  "Thriller, Filler, Spiller"... which makes me inevitably think of Bob Marley singing "Iron, Lion, Zion" every time.  It's a cheesy name that kind of sucks, in my opinion, but I must give credit where credit is due, sort of...  I did not come up with this concept.  But really, neither did the garden world.  It's kind of like the background, middleground, and foreground in art.  In essence, you want something eye-catching and tall in the back, something fairly leafy and space-filling of medium height in the middle, and something short and ideally trailing in the front.

Enough words, let's do some pictures:

Having just been to Italy, I picked a plastic (lightweight!) pot with a Tuscan-esque design and color on a stand to bring the small plants closer to eye level.  

Then I picked my thriller, which was easy -- I have thought fuchsia plants were gorgeous since I saw them in my aunt's garden in Holland.  They do have a proclivity towards developing mites, but I am pre-armed with spray.

It was much more difficult to pick the other plants.  After more than 30min of walking back and forth at Armstrong in indecision, for the filler, I picked Variegated Helichrysum and for the spiller, I chose Muehlenbeckia.

Why?  I wanted a variety of colors and shapes of foliage.  I thought the Helichysum was a nice contrast with the silvery light green that also matched the accent color of our apartment.  Also, the Muehlenbeckia had nice small leaves in a tangle of dark green to contrast the other two plants.  

I absolutely love the fuschia so I stuck with other leafy plants so that other larger flowers wouldn't detract from the delicate look of the fuschia flowers.  But there are tons of options.  Perhaps in another pot, one could do pink impatiens with trailing ivy with a tall purple leafy plant of some sort in the back.  Here's a few examples from the web (Sources linked here: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th):

  

 


And they are all beautiful and different in style!  I have noticed that other people (at least on the interwebs) tend to plant their pots significantly tighter than mine.  How do their plants have space to grow?  Anyway, I planted this pot about 1 month ago, so it is slowly filling out beautifully.  Updated photos to follow!  And remember, next time, you want to plant a pretty pot, think "Thriller, Filler, Spiller"  (or Iron, Lion, Zion).  Happy planting!

In baby stage, welcoming guests

Invention convention

What??  Has it really been over a week since I last posted anything?  Unbelievable!  Well, it has been a busy time...  I am a mere SIX shifts away from completing residency and thereby finishing my lifelong (since preschool to be exact) journey through school and training.  A long road it has been, and here, where the road forks, is an exciting, exhilarating place.  Not so exhilarating that I would ever forget my lovely garden though.

So when I was in 4th grade, I won Invention Convention in my class and went to the school-wide level (where I did not win, but hey).  It was a crowning achievement for me, to the degree that I still talk about it with slightly odd frequency and take it as a sign of wonderful things ahead (I'm talking destiny).  Anyway, I invented a "Bug Smasher-and-Picker-Upper" which was a long handled wooden block attached by a spring to an equally long handled flat piece of pliable board below, such that you could trap an insect, demonstrated by an origami square with a roach drawn on top, by laying the pliable board on top and then squeeze the handle, causing the block to smash on top of the board/bug.  Then you could scoop up the bug on the board (it was very thin) and toss it in the trash.  I hated bugs.  Still do.  And that invention was ingenious.

Anyway, fast forward to 2013, I am stuck with the problem of a vertical planter that kills all my plants because it dries everything out.  And it killed half my plants while we were in Italy.  So I decided to try to fix it, somewhat crudely.

This was square 1, ie, my planter about 1mo ago, post-trip, pre-plants:

Clearly the Dipladenia (top left, red flowers) is a superhero plant because it has managed to grow through all forms of hardship since last fall, despite being an annual.  Aside from that, though, nothing has managed to grow successfully in the top two rows all because of the dryness.  Simple solution:  Figure out how to retain water...

Plastic bag lining!  Fancy!

A bit crude perhaps, but a way of keeping moisture from evaporating out the sides.  I did this on the top right and middle left.  And as a separate mini-experiment, on the middle right, instead of using plastic bags, I added a Plant Nanny with a water globe, which I had previously stuck in the dirt with my dahlias, where it was useless -- all of the water would immediately drain out the bottom in 2 minutes or less, rather than seeping slowly as the advertising insinuates it will.

Row 1:  Dipladenia, Marigold (1).  Row 2:  Marigolds (x2), thyme.  Row 3: Figaro Dahlia, Spearmint.  This is maybe the oh, 5th, incarnation of this vertical planter...  And about a month later, through a bit of hot weather as well, we have the following results:

Looking pretty good!  Okay, so not an invention, per se, but still a solution with results I am happy with.  Both the plastic lining and the plant nanny/water globe combo seem to be helping.  Of course, there are the variables that marigolds are pretty awesome in terms of hardiness.  That's why you see them literally everywhere -- they're easy to grow.  Thyme isn't so fragile either.  But still... not bad!  So let's hope that the 5th time's a charm!

Quick tips for cut flowers

Don't you hate it when you buy flowers and they seem to die instantly?  Here are a couple tips to help with that.

Quick tip of the day #1 -- Trimming the stems:

First off, don't just stick your bouquet in the water.  You need to cut the stems at a 45 degree angle.  A Dutch family trick is to also make an additional cut 1-2cm directly up the length of the stem from the bottom.  All of this exposes more of the water-absorbing portion of the stem to the water.  You also need to trim off any leafy debris and extra stems below where the water line will be.  Otherwise, they will decay and shorten your flowers' life.

Spray roses

Quick tip of the day #2 -- Conditioning the flowers:
To keep your flowers standing up straight, when you buy them put them in water for 4 hours after trimming the stems but before taking off the wrapping so that they are propped up straight in the vase.  After 4 hours, remove the wrapping, and your flowers will be in good shape!  You will notice the difference with flowers with softer stems such as tulips which have a tendency to droop at the stem when they wilt.

Tulips!

Quick tip of the day #3 -- Additives:

I've heard (and tried) everything from adding Sprite, pennies, and straight sugar to the water in order to extend the life of my bouquets.  None of those worked and I have personally had better experience with just plain water.  But some sources suggest additives both to feed the plant and also kill any bacteria.  That's why sometimes flowers come with little flower food/preservative packets attached.  If there is no handy packet, you can try this little recipe, provided by the UCDavis Division Agriculture and Natural Resources (scale up or down as needed):

Flower food/preservative:

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1 Tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon bleach

in 1 quart of water

Make sure to replenish the water regularly and if you notice any gross moldy-type consistency, then completely replace the water, trimming the stems and cleaning the vase again before putting the flowers back in the vase

The flowers pictured are both bouquets from the party we had this weekend, now on day 3 of being in a vase.  As you can see, we are kind of obsessed with painted ceramic pitchers at the moment, both procured during our trip to Italy... pitchers make great vases!  (That is a decorating tip from Evan, my interior decorator/husband)

Hydrangea heaven

So yesterday, Evan and I threw our second party in the existence of our knowing each other.  The first was for Evan's 30th birthday party a few years ago, and this one was for a very belated 30th birthday party as well as an early graduation party (Evan is being quite gracious in letting me stretch my birthday into a 6 week long affair).  It was quite a success with lots of wine, tacos, and chatting in the house and on our garden patio.  Two of our lovely couple friends brought beautiful hydrangeas, which I have never owned before.  

Madonna once famously said she "loathes hydrangeas".  What a silly woman she is... she  may know how to sing, but her taste in flowers is poor.

Of course, now that I have not one, but two gorgeous hydrangeas, I must plant them.  

Evan:  "Those are really pretty.......  you're not going to try to plant them, are you?"  
me:  <excited> "Of course I am going to plant them!"
Evan:  "Where?"
me:  "Wha--?  In pots!  Outside!"  :)
Evan:  <looking outside>  "Please don't plant those.  I don't think there is enough space.  Just enjoy them inside."
me: <aghast>  "They are living things, I have to plant them.  Otherwise they will die...  I can't let them die!!"
Evan:  <rolls eyes, walks away, pretending to be exasperated>

To me, this seems like the logical conclusion to receiving gift plants.  And Evan is not really upset, because if I did not come to that very obvious conclusion, he would have to ask what alien has taken over his flower loving wife.  Look how pretty they are!!

So hydrangeas, these being Hydrangea macrophylla of the mophead variety, as I have done research to determine, prefer sunlight, but not too much sunlight (ideally morning sunlight and afternoon shade).  They like being quite moist, but not too moist.  They are the Goldilocks of plants.  They are also fairly popular gift plants, and some sources suggest that these "grocery store hydrangeas" are bred to bloom like crazy once to the detriment of their long term health.  Also, they tend to grow very large, with the result that they outgrow pots very quickly (and sadly, I do not have the earth to plant them in yet).  Nevertheless, there are some success stories, and I intend to keep these babies alive as long as I can!

Thank you Juliet + Holden and Mike + Janae for the gorgeous plants!  I love them!

Great gardens: Villa Cimbrone!

The last 10 days or so, I've been on an "elective" schedule, which basically means that you choose whatever learning related activity you would like to do.  I have made it a point to do electives that are useful but doable from home.  What I have re-discovered on this elective schedule is that I am also terrible at working from home.  I would be a terrible housewife or work-from-home entrepreneur.  How do you do it, all you people who work from home??  I mostly sit at home uselessly and then start to feel despondent about my uselessness and then when my hard-working husband gets home, I bemoan my boredom and despondency about such boredom, all the while feeling more and more anxious about the pile of work that I have not yet done. Poor husband.  Fortunately, tomorrow, I will actually be going to work (I cannot believe I am saying that) and bringing home some bacon too.

Today, instead of doing my work, I posted vacation photos on facebook, a task that took no less than 2hrs (I love-hate facebook).  And in doing so, I got to look at all my lovely vacation photos again, including the ones from the lovely Villa Cimbrone and its outstanding gardens, located in Ravello, Italy which is a town along the Amalfi Coast.

This seriously gorgeous Villa belonged to a string of "enormously wealthy and influential" Italian families starting the 11th century, was abandoned for awhile, and then rediscovered by an Englishman who overcame his depression over his wife's death by living here and restoring it.  As such, it is, according to the guide pamphlet, a "happy combination of traditional English and Italian landscaped gardens."

As a patio-bound container gardener, I personally love the Italian use of containers within their gardens.  This was something I saw throughout our travels in Italy -- enthusiastic container gardening on balconies, roofs, and within gardens!

They also accessorize their garden well with statues, fountains, and arches.  This is in contrast to the Dutch gardens I saw, which primarily use well-manicured lines of beautiful flowers and foliage.

Lastly, the Villa Cimbrone makes pretty nice use of the fact that it sits on a cliff overlooking the ocean.  This is called the Terrace of the Infinity and oh my, was it gorgeous!

Nowadays, the villa operates as a hotel and event site.  It is available for tours of the garden for a nominal fee, for overnight stay for a much much larger fee,  and if you're extremely wealthy, then you can even get married there.  If interested, here is the website.  

Oh Ravello...  one day, I hope to be back!