Style? I suppose you could say my style is eclectic, or maybe “Anything Goes.” I look at the pictures on the Internet, study the color wheel, and decide I’ll go with a purple and yellow color scheme this year (I love purple and yellow together), or maybe another beautiful, artistic grouping of hues. Then I think about it, and always decide to go with my usual mishmash of bright colors.
My Container Style
Container gardening is my favorite type of gardening these days. It’s easier on my feet and knees and, with a little effort, it’s possible to convince deer to leave my containers alone (with the help of a motion-activated sprinkler).
I love puttering around my container flower garden during the summer, watering, feeding, trimming, deadheading, and looking for bugs and all those other little plant-related tasks. I have a LOT of containers ranging from small, terracotta pots to half-whiskey barrels and every size in-between.
My collection includes a few lovely ceramic pots that I picked up at a yard sale, along with large, colorful plastic pots from a big-box home store. It’s farm country, so I have a galvanized watering trough that I fill with zinnias and petunias.
I don’t have a plan, but I stand back and look at the overall effect. If it seems somewhat balanced, it’s all good with me. I like to begin by arranging small terracotta pots of various sizes around the front sliding door. The pots are filled with bright red geraniums and purple trailing lobelia that I start indoors in April.
Beyond Traditional Containers
Every patio garden needs hanging baskets, and I usually have five or six, filled with wave petunias and calibrachoa that I started indoors in February. I fill the remainder of the containers with more Wave petunias, geraniums, and calibrachoa, along with miniature zinnias of all colors. My husband usually brings me a beautiful already-planted container, and sometimes I find filled containers at our local garden club sale.
My containers are filled with a riot of bright colors, basically anything but white. I’m not sure why I have a “thing” against white flowers, and I’m okay if a few sneak in with the mix, but I’m not crazy about them. I need color! Lots and lots of color.
Vegetable gardening really isn’t my thing, but I reserve two or three containers with tomato plants.
My patio flower garden is so much fun, and I love it when the neighbors slow down, look, and enjoy.
