{"id":3626,"date":"2015-02-11T09:00:43","date_gmt":"2015-02-11T17:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogadmin.plantlust.com\/blog\/?p=3626"},"modified":"2024-01-24T06:52:26","modified_gmt":"2024-01-24T14:52:26","slug":"plant-lust-contained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/plantlust.com\/blog\/gardens\/plant-lust-contained\/","title":{"rendered":"plant lust, contained"},"content":{"rendered":"

It started with an innocent comment on Facebook. I mentioned I\u2019m running out of space in my garden, and with no big projects this year I wasn\u2019t sure where all the plants I’ll have to buy this season were going to go. Grace encouraged me to think about planting in containers as a way of squeezing in a few more. What!? Obviously she hasn\u2019t visited my garden, otherwise she would never encourage the madness, and I told her so. She responded saying \u201cI bet you don’t have more than I do\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n

Sounds like a challenge right?<\/p>\n

First I should tell you a little bit about Grace. She\u2019s a fellow Oregonian who lives south, in Albany, and blogs at Gardening with Grace<\/a>. Grace is also part of the plant lust<\/a> team, she joined up with us last fall and works behind the scenes as a research consultant helping to flesh out the plant lust listings.\u00a0She is also the author of Grace in the Garden: Thirty Years of Blunders and Bliss<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Grace and my gardening styles are very different (for example she loves pink and thinks orange rather unpleasant) but like all plant nuts we speak a common language. In fact there seem to be quite a few of us who have a container obsession. Last August I posted pictures of Eric\u2019s amazing garden<\/a> in SE Portland which is almost entirely planted in containers.<\/p>\n

\"Agave<\/a>
Agave lophantha ‘Quadricolor’<\/a> and other dry-loving and tender plants in Eric’s garden.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His total container count = 158, most of which are planted with things not hardy here\u00a0in\u00a0the winter, or things that need to stay dry. He moves them all into a greenhouse he built out of a former garage. That\u2019s dedication.<\/p>\n

\"Where<\/a>
Where to start! Eric has packed in a large Yucca rostrata<\/a>, Musa basjoo<\/a>, Agave americana ‘Variegata’<\/a> and more, so much more…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My friend JJ is also a contender for the gardener with the most containers, or so I thought. After all her garden<\/a> is loaded with colorful and industrial containers of every shape and size.<\/p>\n

\"Spikes<\/a>
Spikes galore share space with a fig, basil and tomatoes in JJ’s container garden.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However upon visiting my garden she announced \u201cyou win!\u201d\u2026and declared that I had more containers than she did.<\/p>\n

\"JJ<\/a>
JJ even sneaks in a Corokia cotoneaster<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So, if you\u2019re keeping score that leaves Grace and I\u00a0left to battle it out. She took an official count, which I\u2019ll let her tell you about:<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving never actually undertaken a full container count for fear it would confirm my gardening neurosis, I flippantly estimated there\u2019d be a mere fifty or so pots situated throughout the garden, a respectable amount considering a bunch of them got emptied and stacked after the first frost. However as soon as I counted twenty in my courtyard alone, I knew I was in trouble. The total was going to be a lot higher and I was going to be exposed for the hort-hoarder that I am. But I was curious too. And if the count was exorbitant, I could cushion it with sound reasoning. After all, I like using containers for growing smaller (cheaper) plants. I\u2019ll grow them in a pot for a few years before transferring them into the garden. I\u2019m saving money.”<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
An old wagon rusted to perfection and\u00a0filled with Sedum spurium<\/a> in Grace’s garden. Photo from Gardening with Grace<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“I grabbed my pen and a pad, took a deep breath and headed to the garden proper. Wending my way to the opposite end, taking notes and writing down ever larger numbers, the final count came to two-hundred forty-eight. I was both proud and mortified. After all, the count included four hypertufa troughs, eight pots of spring-blooming bulbs, five containers of strawberries, three of blueberry plants. But it didn\u2019t include my three repurposed livestock troughs waiting for veggie seedlings, the two faux window boxes supporting sad looking brown foliage, or the fourteen flats of winter-sown perennials I\u2019m experimenting with.”<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
An old bike becomes a planter, photo from Gardening with Grace<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“I shared the final tally with my sister who quickly commented, \u201cThat\u2019s a lot of watering.\u201d But it\u2019s really not. Okay, it is and I admit that by the middle of August I get a little tired.\u00a0 But I\u2019ve worked out an efficient system.<\/p>\n

I cluster several pots to make watering them effortless. I place drought tolerant plants in full sun. Everything that isn\u2019t drought tolerant and requires normal to moist soil is placed where it receives at least a few hours of afternoon shade. I place a deep saucer under these pots to catch the drainage and provide additional moisture. I can\u2019t wait to get tired of watering again this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dianthus<\/a>
Dianthus<\/a> foliage seems the perfect match for this unique repurposed container, photo from Gardening with Grace<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Grace = 248!<\/p>\n

And I should also note that most of Grace’s containers aren’t the kind you just stop by your local nursery and pick up, her collection is the result of a serious lust for rust and lots of hunting.<\/p>\n

\"Agave
Agave ovatifolia ‘Frosty Blue’<\/a> and A. lophantha ‘Splendida’<\/a> battle for space in a green-glazed container in my garden.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Are you ready for my count = 228.<\/p>\n

A paltry (by comparison) 228. I\u2019m tempted to tell you about the containers I didn\u2019t count, ones that have been emptied for the season, but I believe that would just be digging myself an even deeper hole, should my husband happen to read this.<\/p>\n

\"Tillandsia<\/a>
Tillandsia xerographica<\/a> in my hanging circle pot.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So why do we do it?<\/p>\n

There is definitely a design aspect, containers bring color and style to the garden. And as Grace pointed out containers allow to you squeeze in more plants where they might not fit if you were growing them in the ground. Grace also likes the ability containers give her to coddle smaller plants she buys on the cheap, allowing them to grow up to respectable size before setting them loose in the landscape. My primary reason (and I believe JJ and Eric are much the same) is that containers allow me to control the growing conditions for my plants. Dry loving succulents are protected from our winter rain and plants that can\u2019t take our winter cold get moved inside, where it\u2019s warmer.<\/p>\n

\"Looking<\/a>
Looking at this image of my patio I realize Grace is right, I have space for at least 50 more containers!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So what about you? Care to share your philosophy on containers, and your count?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It started with an innocent comment on Facebook. I mentioned I\u2019m running out of space in my garden, and with no big projects this year I wasn\u2019t sure where all the plants I’ll have to buy this season were going to go. Grace encouraged me to think about planting in containers as a way of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":3627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,47],"tags":[1465,1157,1817,993,1734,459,333,1816,1818,611],"yoast_head":"\nplant lust, contained - Plant Lust<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It started with an innocent comment on Facebook. 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