The 2012 garden is all about color and combination. In my first years, I focused on learning how to grow and mostly stuck to mono-pots with just one or two flowers sharing a home. My favorite color is purple and my garden also reflected that preference. This year, things are different and I'm ready to take the next step -- design. As containers have grown in popularity, container design has also become a trendy topic. Typically, combination containers are all about varying height, color and length to draw the eye to something spectacular, and of course, finding the perfect pot to set it all off. The challenge is having a good eye and of course planting things that play well together in the same pot and have the same general preferences (e.g., sun, shade, lots of water, little water, etc.).
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| A semi "succulent" combo at my Mom's |
This year, I experimented with seven combo-pots for my garden and a bunch more for my Mom's. For my garden, I replaced some of my crummier large plastic pots with fun new plastic pots that both shape and style.
In each pot, I tried to pick one focal point and then plant complementary pieces around that point, using various items from the Mother's Day weekend gardening spree. Height is important and I tried to either put the taller items in the back or middle (depending on the focal point) to make sure the shorter plants had room to shine. Color is also key and I tried to use complementary colors in both flowers in foilage.
Some fiery combo's at Mom's --
My biggest concern is whether these comboinations will be good together. Truth be told, I probably focused too much on design and not enough on basic plant demographics. So, I'm fairly sure I have shades with full suns, pieces that are short now but could grow to overshadow the rest, and succulents and water lovers. So far, I'm happy with the first draft, but the fun will be in figuring it all out and learning along the way.
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