GardenSmart :: EPISODES

Show #13/713
Viewer/Container Show

Grouping of Three Containers
THE FIRST GROUPING OF CONTAINERS HAS DIFFERENT SIZES, shapes and colors and provide a stunning look. She saw something similar at the flower show and was on a mission to duplicate the grouping. She wanted something to stand out in this area of her deck thus chose 3 containers - one blue, one yellow and the third green. She put them together with their different heights, shapes and sizes and thinks it turned out great.

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Weeping Tree
MINDY HAD WANTED SOMETHING TALL IN THIS AREA AND LOVED THE LITTLE WEEPING TREE FORM. The tree in the container wasn't quite tall enough so she found an urn and has used it as a pedestal to bring the little tree up to eye level. It's a neat effect and something one won't see anywhere else. The Taxodium distichum 'Cascade Falls' is a beautiful dwarf, weeping bald cypress. It is underplanted with Verbena x hybrid 'Tuscany lavender.' The soft purple against the deep greenish blues of the container combined with the weeping dwarf tree make a dramatic statement.

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Screened Porch
OUR HOSTS NEXT VISIT THE SCREENED PORCH WITH BEAUTIFUL OUTDOOR FURNISHINGS, wonderful containers and interesting plants. All provide a sense one is in nature. It is like a real room and therefore is used a lot. It is not exposed 100 percent to the elements. The furniture is rattan thus not meant to stay outside in the elements all the time but is fine if under some type of covering, like the screened porch. The fabric is great because it's water resistant but if it were to get wet the cushions will drain through and dry in 10 to 15 minutes. And, the furniture is comfortable. The room is attractive and most enjoyable.

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Question and Answer
Garden Smart Website Question and Answer department ERIC IS JOINED BY ANNE WHO HEADS UP THE QUESTION AND ANSWER SECTION ON THE GARDENSMART WEBSITE. Anne's a passionate gardener, a great horticulturist and was recently awarded an Award of Merit from the Garden Writers Association. Anne tells Eric about how she and her staff handle the incoming emails and what the process is. First they pull the emails off the website and answer them as completely and as in-depth as possible. And, they have wide ranging questions. The questions may be about vegetables, flowers, trees and shrubs, even some originate from those that don't yet have a garden but want to know where to start. They deal with gardeners from all over the U.S. with widely different knowledge levels. The questions are handled on a question by question, individual by individual basis and often require in-depth research. Anne and her staff don't provide pat answers, all questions are answered individually.

Click here for more info

LINKS:

Containers

Outdoor Furniture

Complete transcript of the show.

713. Viewer/Container Show
Garden Smart makes a point of visiting some of the most beautiful public, private and resort gardens in the country. To provide a change of perspective each year we make a special trip to one of our viewers homes and look at what she's been doing and changing in her yard and garden. As always she has many new, beautiful, unusual plants as well as stunning ceramic containers and some very stylish and functional garden furniture and accessories.
Our guest host, Mindy, fills us in on her gardening adventures during this past year and how she has progressed as a gardener. She has always loved decorating the inside of her house and suddenly realized she was missing an opportunity to decorate the outside as well. By decorating the outside it has made it more inviting and enabled her to better enjoy the outside with her lake view.
Eric notices immediately the new chairs on her deck. They look like historic Adirondack chairs but have a contemporary feel. They swivel and are taller affording a great lake view plus they create a very comfortable, intimate living space. They not only look great but importantly are very functional.
Additionally, her plant palette has expanded. This year she has added plants not normally seen in containers. The unusual plants with neat textures and colors compliment the new, unusual containers.
Mindy feels she has grown as a gardener over the years. When going to the garden center she felt she kept seeing the same type of plants. She decided she wanted more unusual plants. Mindy views the plants as accessories in her containers. Many of the plants are perennials because she loves the idea of something coming back every year, which means she doesn't have to replant. She is also attempting to make the containers, with unusual plants, focal points. She knows she has been successful because her friends, when visiting, will say, "Ooh, what's that? I want one of those." That's been fun.
THE FIRST GROUPING OF CONTAINERS HAS DIFFERENT SIZES, shapes and colors and provide a stunning look. She saw something similar at the flower show and was on a mission to duplicate the grouping. She wanted something to stand out in this area of her deck thus chose 3 containers - one blue, one yellow and the third green. She put them together with their different heights, shapes and sizes and thinks it turned out great. Eric, too, likes the arrangement. The plants in those containers are neat as well. In one container is a contorted Cypress, Chamaecyparis obtusa x which adds a nice vertical element. The shape of the foliage and the tall plant draw the eye. It's evergreen thus has year round color and it looks nice in a container. It is combined with a Scaevola 'Bombay Blue' which trails over the side providing a nice combination. In the second container is a Pentas lanceolata 'Starburst' which is in the center and on the outside is Heliotropium arborescens 'Iowa' which trails down. That trailing will continue as the plant grows and gets heavier. This container is a butterfly attractor which is an added plus. These plants are great at bringing nature onto the front porch or into a living space. It is a nice color combination. The unifying plant theme of purples and pinks is carried throughout the 3 containers which contrasts beautifully with the containers themselves. In the third container is Angelonia angustifolia which is a great little plant, has a vertical element and blooms its heart out all summer long. They produce purply-pink spikes but will sometimes have a white hue depending on the strain. It is a nice combination and a fantastic look. Because the containers are very colorful Mindy wanted to keep the color scheme of the plants fairly simple because she thought it might be too busy if too many different colors were utilized.
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Corner Grouping IN ANOTHER AREA, A CORNER, SHE HAS BLENDED CERAMIC CONTAINERS WITH SOME ORNAMENTAL IRONWORK. These provide different heights which also provide an exciting look. This is by a doorway out to the deck thus she wanted something in the corner. She started with a gold urn and thought it needed something else, she wanted to add some height in the corner. Thus she chose the iron stand on which a beautiful blue container was placed and added grass which will grow taller and ultimately be eye level. The trailing plant, Scaevola 'Bombay Blue' which would normally be difficult to see at a lower level is raised via the container on the iron stand and is now easy to see. The texture of the weeping Pennisetum setaceum stands out and will ultimately have beautiful rosy spikes which will make a great contrast against the deep blue container. The other container has some interesting plants not normally found in a pot and was inspired by a Garden Smart show. Here in a bold, gold container is Ice plant, Delosperma floribunda 'Starburst' which is combined with Vinca minor 'Alba.' It is the only white Vince she's seen. Mindy wanted a simple combination of purple and white because again the containers are colorful enough, they are the star of the show. Campanula punctata 'Pink Octopus' is brand new and has flowers that look somewhat like little Octopus legs. It has little pink freckles, is lightly pubescent, has little fuzzy hairs, has a tremendous amount of flower power and is deer resistant. One clump is already starting to divide and over time will fill an entire area. As well it will keep throwing up bloom spikes as it matures. It's a great selection for a vertical element. It's hard to beat the contrast of the rose color against the gold container. It must be working, all her friends have inquired about this plant.
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Pruning Roses ONE OF THE HOTTEST TRENDS IN CONTAINER GARDENING IS USING FLOWERING SHRUBS. Of course, the king of flowering shrubs are Roses. Mindy has several different examples of roses in containers. One was beautiful last year, it bloomed all season long, but this season is out of control. It's too big and gangly. Eric tells us roses bloom on new growth. If cut back it would have blooms again in 6 or 7 weeks. Be bold when pruning, take it back. Mindy doesn't have the nerve to cut so dramatically, thus lets Eric do the job. He gives it a serious haircut to get it back in shape. He is bold. He shows us the cuts from last year and they were high. A rose when it flushes out will put on about 1 foot of growth depending on the type of rose. Since this is a shrub rose it will put on approximately 12-16 inches of growth and the new buds will be set on the new growth. Once it's cut back there will be a new flush and the new buds will form there. Eric wants to cut it back so it is in proportion to the container. To do this he cuts the heavier canes, leaving some of the smaller branches in place. He evens it up leaving the bigger canes about pinky thick, some of them pencil thick. He removes one shoot that is part of the under stock of the rose because it is not the same cultivar, it is the under stock that the rose was grafted onto. The last few branches are cut leaving some small off shoots to provide maximum area for bud break, so that it will get extra blooms. Eric doesn't want the plant to expend too much energy on too few bud sites thus leaves a lot of different breaks. Once done it has a nice rounded shape. In 6 or 7 weeks it should, again, be covered in beautiful roses.
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Weeping Tree Eric and Mindy next look at a little alcove that has several different elements, all quite different. Eric thinks that quite often when one finds innovative, neat things in design someone has been daring, they tried something different and experimented. Here there are water elements, fountains, and that theme has been repeated with a kind of cascading plant. One fountain is a pond in a pot. Mindy loves the sound of water, it's refreshing on a hot day, very soothing. MINDY HAD WANTED SOMETHING TALL IN THIS AREA AND LOVED THE LITTLE WEEPING TREE FORM. The tree in the container wasn't quite tall enough so she found an urn and has used it as a pedestal to bring the little tree up to eye level. It's a neat effect and something one won't see anywhere else. The Taxodium distichum 'Cascade Falls' is a beautiful dwarf, weeping bald cypress. It is underplanted with Verbena x hybrid 'Tuscany lavender.' The soft purple against the deep greenish blues of the container combined with the weeping dwarf tree make a dramatic statement.
There are many different ways gardeners can use containers, one is to draw attention to nooks and crannies. Mindy has done that in one area by utilizing a container with bold colors. She had wanted something dramatic in this location because there are steps here. The container alerts people, that aren't expecting steps, to look down and take notice. In the container she has used Alternanthera ficoidea, it is a perfect example of not needing flowers to have great color. Oftentimes flowers can be short lived but foliage will last the whole season. It's nice to have something that will consistently provide a splash of color. As an added bonus it's her patriotic container because with the blue container it turned out to be red white and blue.
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ScreenedPorch OUR HOSTS NEXT VISIT THE SCREENED PORCH WITH BEAUTIFUL OUTDOOR FURNISHINGS, wonderful containers and interesting plants. All provide a sense one is in nature. It is like a real room and therefore is used a lot. It is not exposed 100 percent to the elements. The furniture is rattan thus not meant to stay outside in the elements all the time but is fine if under some type of covering, like the screened porch. The fabric is great because it's water resistant but if it were to get wet the cushions will drain through and dry in 10 to 15 minutes. And, the furniture is comfortable. The room is attractive and most enjoyable.
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Shady Area THE AREA OUTSIDE THE SCREENED PORCH IS A SHADIER AREA and previously was comprised of mostly leftover containers. Mindy has some new containers for the area. They brighten up the area, add a nice pop of color to the shady area and make the space cheerful. The glazes on the containers are called bell bottom blue and Woodstock green. Although it doesn't bring back memories to Eric it does to Mindy. They're bright and in this shaded area they stand out. Accordingly she wanted plants with color. She's learned that she can have color without blooming flowers. To accomplish this in one container she chose chartreuse Heuchera. It can have some flowers but usually not. The foliage of the Huchera is nice, very attractive. Heuchera 'Lime Rickey' is in the tall blue container and Heuchera 'Crimson Curls' and a little Japanese Painted Fern, Athyrium niponicum var. pictum 'Silver Falls' is in the smaller green container. Often tall containers are terra cotta. Terra cotta is an old world kind of style. With these bright colors and ceramic pots it blends the old with the new. The benefit of tall containers is the tall soil column. This provides good drainage because the height of the pot allows the plants to develop deep roots. Because of the amount of soil they hold they have a lot of water holding capacity yet don't stay too wet. These tall containers are great for plants like Heuchera that don't want to stay too wet but also don't want to be dry. These pots are a good selection for these type plants.
Another plant in the area is Begonia coccinea 'Angel Wing.' It provides color and blooms all summer long, they're easy to grow in a shaded area and are classic. The pink and green is a great combination. Combined with the little Lamium maculatum with its silver foliage splashing out, it makes for a fun area.
Mindy is thankful that Eric visits personally and answers her questions but when he's not here she still has questions. Last year she wanted to know if she could over-winter her Banana, then plant it in the spring and still have her Banana tree. She went to the gardensmart.tv Question and Answer section of the website and received the best, most complete answer. It told her exactly what to do to save the Banana and it is coming back beautifully. This is a great service for all Garden Smart viewers. The trained horticulturists that staff the site can answer most all of those tricky questions and the Banana is living proof.
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Question and Answers ERIC IS JOINED BY ANNE WHO HEADS UP THE QUESTION AND ANSWER SECTION ON THE GARDENSMART WEBSITE. Anne's a passionate gardener, a great horticulturist and was recently awarded an Award of Merit from the Garden Writers Association. Anne tells Eric about how she and her staff handle the incoming emails and what the process is. First they pull the emails off the website and answer them as completely and as in-depth as possible. And, they have wide ranging questions. The questions may be about vegetables, flowers, trees and shrubs, even some originate from those that don't yet have a garden but want to know where to start. They deal with gardeners from all over the U.S. with widely different knowledge levels. The questions are handled on a question by question, individual by individual basis and often require in-depth research. Anne and her staff don't provide pat answers, all questions are answered individually.
Eric and Mindy reconnect. Eric has enjoyed this container gardening show. In particular he is in awe with what Mindy has done with new plant combinations, the way she's used trees and shrubs in containers, the unusual plants not often seen and the neat ceramic containers and wonderful outdoor furniture. It was a great time and he appreciates Mindy inviting Garden Smart into her home.
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LINKS:

Containers

Outdoor Furniture

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