PRETTY SUMMER GARDEN POTS

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YIPPEE!

WARM WEATHER!! SUNSHINE!!!

Time to get dirty and make pretty garden pots

As much as I love travelling and going out (especially to dinner), I’m a homebody. One of the simple pleasures for me is getting my hands dirty in the garden. Hey, can you blame me? I worked on a fair share of gardening shows at HGTV for over a decade.

My son, Alex and I are experimenting for the first time since he was a little boy. We planted some vegetables together on Mother’s Day. Fingers crossed that the raccoons, squirrels and abundant shade don’t lead to their demise! What I haven’t done until now, is plant my summer flower garden pots. Every year I like to try something new. I’m SO thrilled with the way they turned out that I just had to share what I did!

It’s a great creative outlet to choose the combination of flowers and greens. Before I commit, I usually scout around the neighbourhood and take pictures of planters I like. I also make a trip to the garden centre to scout out prospects and to get inspiration. As with any design choice you make inside OR out, when selecting the plant material for your garden pots, it’s important to factor the colours surrounding the exterior of your house. Choose plants that are complementary to the existing shrubs, trees and flowers, as well as the roof shingles and paint trim of your windows and doors. For me, the biggest challenge is working with the colour of the orangey brown bricks of my house. I’ve always been partial to blues and purples. In the spring I love the lilac hue of Phlox and lighter violet blue pansies. For summer, though it’s not always easy to find those calming colours.

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I was thrilled when I found the tall flowering topiary shrub called Solanum rantonnetii. They originated in South America and need part sun and part shade. I happen to have a fair bit of sun. The ones I found are braided so the woody stem is sturdy and the top bulbous part of the plant is tricoloured with white and two shades of delicate purple flowers.

I have tall planters, so proportionally you need something substantial and with height. It’s best to balance that height with trailing flowers and ivy. I wanted a little bit of texture so I planted green Baltic Ivy in the corners. I chose white Lobelia and fairy blue Scaevola because their dainty flowers will cascade down the planter and they echo the colours on top.

Materials List:

Potting soil

Fairy Blue Scaevola

Techno Heat White Lobelia

Baltic Ivy

Solanum Rantonnetii

Remove the plastic pots from all the plant material. Fill your planter with soil and create a hole in the centre. Place the Solanum Rantonnetii shrub in your pot first. Arrange the other plants around the base of the shrub, alternating white and purple with the ivy in the front corners. Play with the combination of colours and placement of the smaller plants before you start digging. Once you like the overall placement and look, dig the plants into the soil and fill in the gaps with more soil. It’s that easy.

Like cooking, I find I get into a Zen mode putting it all together. It’s really therapeutic. I have a weakness for beautiful things. It makes me so happy to come home and see these pretty garden pots. I hope you get as much pleasure from the green that surrounds you too.

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