Fiber Optics Grass

There are many ways to create a harmonious garden with your selection of pots and plant material. Groupings are the easiest way. Use a mix of tall pots, short pots, bowls, and troughs in uneven numbers. Take into consideration the "feel" you want to give the area. Use bright or intense foliage, like sun coleus or copper plant as your main choices if you want a lively, hot mix.

For a full-blown lush look, fill your pots root ball to root ball, squeezing in as many as your pot will hold. The larger containers hold a more interesting mixture of plants and have the added benefit of needing less water. If you are gone daily and vacation in the summer, choose large pots for your garden.

Color comes in many sizes and shapes of foliage. The sun coleus have the most stunning and outrageous colors. These are not the coleus of old. The old-timers are still around and give color in the shade. These sunny ones grow stronger colors and larger plants. Many will complement each other with chartreuse edges and deep burgundy middles. The edges are interesting in many of the choices. Some are lined, some have dotted edges, others are ruffled or frilled.

You may not need more color to fill out your garden. If your beds are screaming with intense shades of red and orange, add some greens and whites to cool down the hot areas.

Single specimen plants can make a garden space. One exquisite little plant, used in a small interesting animal figurine, casually placed, adds eye appeal to a side table on the patio or porch. Locate a tall plant in an antique in a formal setting, or in an empty corner of the garden for instant drama.

Use eclectic pots, overflowing with color, to fill gaps in the garden. Have pots of color coming along in a holding area, getting ready for a switch with the tattered and tired later in the season.

Zebra Grass

Do you have a hot, dry, sunny spot too tired and narrow to plant, maybe along a walkway? Line up a series of three or five muted-colored tall column planters. Fill each one with an ornamental grass like Miscanthus ‘Little Zebra’ to spill over the sides or for a more upright look, Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’, the 2001 Perennial Plant of the Year. Raise them up on pedestals, if necessary. This pleasant walkway will require almost no maintenance.

Color comes in many sizes and shapes of foliage. The sun coleus have the most stunning and outrageous colors. These are not the coleus of old. The old-timers are still around and give color in the shade. These sunny ones grow stronger colors and larger plants. Many will complement each other with chartreuse edges and deep burgundy middles. The edges are interesting in many of the choices. Some are lined, some have dotted edges, and others are ruffled or frilled.

You may not need more color to fill out your garden. If your beds are screaming with intense shades of red and orange, add some greens and whites to cool down the hot areas.

Choose the white and green variegated foliage of large leaved ivies, or choose tri-colored jasmine with its small green leaves traced with white. New foliage on the jasmine is white and pink. Use these as the spillers or prop them up in the middle with an obelisk or trellis.

Single specimen plants can make a garden space. One exquisite little plant, used in a small interesting animal figurine, casually placed, adds eye appeal to a side table on the patio or porch. Locate a tall plant in an antique in a formal setting, or in an empty corner of the garden for instant drama.

If you have a tree with heavy roots and are unable to grow anything in the soil around it, choose pots of ferns and grow on top. The ferns will droop over the pot sides and hide the pots underneath. They make a fine deep green backdrop in the shade.

Use eclectic pots, overflowing with color, to fill gaps in the garden. Have pots of color coming along in a holding area, getting ready for a switch with the tattered and tired later in the season. Something die in the flower bed? Just plop in a pot of color wherever you need it.

Containers are so versatile. They can stand on their own, look good in a group, or fill out a flower bed. If you fill up some containers now, you will also have some color insurance come summer.

---Posted by Coach Anne, May 7, 2008---