Containers 2014

I like growing things in pots, both annuals and perennials. Most of the time I put only one variety in each pot. As with every year, this last summer, some pots were more successful than others.

Here is a review of what I grew in pots in 2014 and how well they did. The most successful was an alstroemeria. The variety, Fabiana, has variegated foliage which adds interest even when the plant is not in bloom.

Alstromeria 'Fabiana'

In winter. I take the alstromeria out of the pot and sink it in the vegetable garden. This is rather tricky, because if I put it too deep, it is sitting in water. The secret is to put it an inch or so below the soil surface with a lot of mulch on top. Over the years, I have had problems finding plants that would go well with this very colorful Vietnamese pot. If flowers are too bright they compete with the pot. This subdued Alstroemeria seems to be the best thing for it.

It only starts blooming in early July, but then it stays covered with flowers till frost. Alstroemeria seems to grow just as well in a pot as in the ground.

Every year I grow various hostas in pots. They also seem to do just as  well in pots as in the ground, and of course in a pot they are to a large extant  protected from slugs and snails. The one below is 'Sagae' with yellow Creeping Jenny at the base.

Hosta sagae and Creeping Jenny

This year I put all my Sedum matrona in one large low pot, and it worked quite well. They are now in bloom and look especially good. But all through the summer, before the blooms came, the foliage was attractive. Like the hosta above, I take these sedums out of the pot in the autumn, and they winter in the ground, in the vegetable garden.

Sedum matrona

I have a few tender trees I take to a dark cellar where temperatures do not get much below -1 Celsius. The figtree on the right is used to this regimen, but I am not sure what I will do with the Eugenia myrtifolium (I have two of them) which I just bought this spring. They are originally from Australia and are zone 10-11. No cold cellar for them!

Eugenia myrtifolium and Fig tree on the right

The lotus did not do very well this year. It put out a few leaves, but there were no flowers. I have no idea what went wrong. The plant might have needed more fertilizer as lotuses are heavy feeders.

Lotus 'Mrs. Perry D. Slocum'

I also grow annuals in pots. This year I had a variety of nasturtiums in one of my black pots. They did well, but I should have added some nasturtium seeds when the plants started blooming because they now (early September) look quite awful. It I had seeded replacement plants earlier in the season, these would now be at their best.

In another of these black pots, I have some 'radio' calendulas  that keep company to the tomatoes.

I grew Torenia for the first time this year. In these small pots, they stayed nice for about two months. They were in full shade. I expect they would have performed better (and longer) in the ground.

Torenia

These yellow portulacas did also very well. It looks as if they will stay covered with flowers till the first frost.

To end with, some China Asters (in Chinese pots) on the left and some begonias from two bulbs that were blooming for the third year this summer.