“The natural flights of the human mind are not from pleasure to pleasure, but from hope to hope.” ~Samuel Johnson
So this foray into mostly container gardening is like beginning again. And so I am back to the beginner’s mindset. Learning, failing with some successes. But as my other learning experiences with gardening have taught me (veg gardening, native plant gardening etc), take it slow, assess, teach yourself, learn and try again. All without judging yourself.
And so here we are. Container failures around 70%. Only 30% of the plants in the containers came back after this harsh winter. And so I have replaced many plants.
Like this hydrangea…
and rose. Both more adaptable for harsher climates. Fingers crossed. I added a ground cover with tiny blue flowers, Laurentia fluviatilis or Isotoma fluviatilis. Also called Blue Star Creeper, part of the Campanula family. Hoping it spreads adding a layer of warmth for the shrubs.
And a new clematis that likes to grow later in the season. I just ordered one and it will be here by the end of May. I planted sweet peas here until I get the new plant.
The round container with bulbs yielded no bulbs. So I am planting my beloved low growing forsythia here in the fall. I have grown it in containers before and it seemed to thrive. But will it flower? We shall see. I had a couple of small pieces left after I dug it up and gave it away last fall. I planted them in the front container and they came back.
I am planting many favorite annuals from seed in some containers, and they are growing beautifully so far….cosmos, nasturtiums, sweet peas and sunflowers.
The two small pots on the north side of the house have all the miniature hostas coming back. So I am allowing them to take the whole pot.
The heucheras and Siberian iris that were also in the small pots were a 50/50 split…half growing and half dying. So I am moving the survivors to a bigger pot in hopes they will rebound and spread.
Herbs will be grown in containers like annuals. Many perennial herbs, like sage, did not come back. I am resigned to the herbs being annuals. So I will replace them each year.
All in all the plants that were left in the ground have grown and flourished so far. Like Korean lilac, ‘Miss Kim’ which was a stick last year. I thought for sure it would not grow, but I was surprised. Now to get this container gardening initiative to thrive. I have to be realistic and take my time. And add some mulch (something I have never done with containers) so they retain moisture and warmth.
I have many flower buds waiting to burst so this week while, I am waiting, I am floating some of my many pansies and violas that I am repotting and moving. I love the look. With our heat they will be fading soon enough.
With this simple sort of vase, in an old flowery cereal bowl, I am linking in to the wonderful meme, In A Vase On Monday, at Rambling in the Garden.
All the pictures shared in this post were taken with my Nikon Coolpix or iPhone camera, and manipulated on my iPhone using the apps, Pixlr and Prisma. You can follow my progress with #the100dayproject in my Instagram and Facebook feed.
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