Containers

Planting in Tight Spaces with Smart Pots

June 9, 2011 55 comments
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Recently I had a client who wanted some plants tucked behind her waterfall. The waterfall had been built right up against her fence, so there was no real planting area – you can’t just pile up soil against a fence, of course. Enter the Smart Pots. Because the spaces were so cramped and oddly-shaped, there [...]

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Greenland Gardener Wall Garden Kit

May 24, 2011 75 comments
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If you’ve read Susan Morrison and Rebecca Sweet’s book Garden Up! about vertical gardening, you’ve seen the drool-worthy photos of succulent walls. You might have even thought about getting one of those flat wooden frames to make one of your own. The problem with so many of those succulent wall frames is they require patience, [...]

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The SF Garden Show, Contained: Planter Ideas for Balcony Gardens

March 28, 2011 16 comments
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The San Francisco Garden Show had a ton of container plantings accenting the display landscapes, and standing on their own. The nice thing about displays of containers is that you can generally recreate them at home with little fuss. Here are some of the highlights from the show:

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Amy and Gen Tropicanna the Garden: a Giveaway!

March 10, 2011 30 comments
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***Giveaway below*** Outside of the garden, I’m attracted to cool, subdued colors, like purples, blues, blacks and greys. But lately, in the garden? Give me some color! Wild, exuberant color, that shocks the eyes and cheers the soul. So when the kind folks out at Tesselaar Plants offered to send Amy Stewart and I some [...]

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Monday Miscellany: Twitter, Container Ideas, and Garden TV

June 14, 2010 6 comments
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The garden blogging world seemed to take a short hiatus from posting cool stuff when spring first arrived, but now they’re back in force, with all kinds of new ideas, hot photos, and inspiration we can bring back to our own homes and gardens. The last couple weeks have seen some great lists of gardening [...]

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Monday Miscellany: Garden Photography, Containers, Lascivious Plants and Orchids

May 31, 2010 1 comment
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Garden Photography Advice from Saxon Holt (and a podcast with Alan Detrick) Garden photographer Saxon Holt, who has photographed some of my favorite garden books (like Grasses by Nancy Ondra) has a post about how he views light in the garden. If you struggle with getting a good shot of your garden, Saxon’s a guy [...]

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Victoria, B.C.- Style Hanging Flower Baskets

March 17, 2010 8 comments
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The city of Victoria, British Columbia has the most decadent flower baskets hanging from the lamp posts in the shopping district all summer long. They’re bright, they’re cheerful, and most importantly, they guide tourists down the streets and show shoppers which areas they’re likely to find most interesting. How can you use this idea at [...]

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Fall Color Container Planting Idea

October 24, 2009 7 comments
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A client came up with this pretty container planting idea for summer and fall. The spiky Phormium/ Flax Grass makes a vivid centerpiece, then she used red Coleus and orange Impatiens to pick up on the Flax’s colored stripes. Last, she used some purple trailing Petunias to cool down the combination and spill over the [...]

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Container Plants that Birds Love

March 21, 2009 9 comments

Finishing off our series on planting to attract birds, here’s my love poem to container gardeners – some of my favorite plants to attract birds and hummingbirds to your urban or patio garden. Fuchsia thymifolia or Fairy Fuchsia This is the fuchsia that makes me go starry-eyed with love. Blooming all year  long on the [...]

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Garden Q&A; Why Transplant Into Larger Pots in Stages?

November 10, 2008 7 comments

An excellent question posted by Fern of Life on the Balcony, a fun blog which shares her adventures in container gardening: Why is it better to transplant a plant into a series of progressively larger pots? I’ve seen that recommended in books, but they never say why it’s better than a small plant potted in [...]

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