Week 27, Year 2: The Purple Spectrum, Part I (Blue to Royal)

In case it isn't obvious, I love the color purple (or is it blue?). Many of my flowers fall somewhere between deep (blue) purple and light purple (blue). While some of my purple winners will merit their own entries (e.g., clematis, duranta), I will try to showcase the rest of the purple flowers in this entry, and follow up with some other color "themed" entries to highlight the less showy participants in my garden. Since I have so many purple residents, I am splitting my purple entries into two, and this week's purple spotlight will be on the royal, deep "blue" purple residents: browallia, verbena, speedwell, petunias and sweet potato vine. There are several shades of purple, and I've done my best to classify my royal/blue set below.

The "Blue" Purples

Many of the deep, royal purple varieties are actually classified as "blue," reflecting their deep, cool color. A true blue flower has eluded growers to date, and most attempts to create a blue flower have resulted in the deep purple color that is classified as "blue." Whatever its called, this is definitely my favorite color in my garden. While the striking blue-purple of the duranta was highlighted last week, the petunias, verbena, browallia and speedwell are other examples of this great color.

Petunia - These wave petunias look like they are made of velvet up close.

Verbena - Another repeat player from last year, but this time the verbena are getting full-sun, sharing a box with the stock and Mexican heather.

Browallia - The browallia won my heart last year, and I couldn't help but bring them back this year, especially given their tolerance for shade.

Hungarian Speedwell (veronica) - The speedwell is a bit mysterious - it bloomed for about one week in early June and has not produced flowers since.

The "True" Purples

The true purple flowers are more of a royal purple or classic purple hue. These flowers have a warmer tone and can range from an eggplant to violet, stopping short of the lighter lavender shades. In this group, from dark to light, we have painted tongue, sweet potato vine and heliotrope.

Painted Tongue - Though the painted tongue has also produced yellow and red flowers, these eggplant stunners are the focus of this entry.

Sweet Potato Vine - This variety of sweet potato vine ranges from chartreuse to eggplant, providing the perfect complement to the silver and purple petunias.

Heliotrope - The heliotrope is incredibly fragrant. I grew it in a box last year, but decided to let it have its own pot this year. It's a bit floppier and I think I might have preferred it in the box, but it still smells incredible.

Week 20, Year 2: Dahlia Woes

I'm killing a dahlia. Last week, on the first 80 degree day of the year, we purchased this hybrid dahlia with cheery yellow flowers. It seemed to be a great addition to the garden and I was hopeful that it would provide us with sunny cheer every time we stepped outside.

9 days later, and there are no vestiges of its former cheeriness (well, it really only took it 2 days to kill it). Honestly, it just never seemed happy in the pot, it leaned and never perked back up. We just haven't had enough warm weather to keep it happy. It has drooped over and basically given up.

It came with a 1 year guarantee, so I have to believe it could come back with warm weather and sun, but how long do I wait? It seems to get worse by the day and I'm afraid it will start to depress the other flowers.

In an act of frustration, I also decided to plant the struggling verbena with the dahlia, figuring they deserve each other. That way, if they both give up on me, I can just wash my hands of them at the same time.

Week 18, Year 2: New Beginnings

Well, it's time to start again. Having survived my rookie year, I'm heading into Year Two with the hopes of cultivating another beautiful container garden, having fun and learning a lot more along the way. Unfortunately, I had to give up on last year's perennials. Life intervened, and I was too busy to nurse them along, so I've decided to start fresh. The lone survivor was snoke poke, our blue spruce tree. So, on this beautiful Mother's Day, my faithful assistant (pictured above) and I spent the morning on the deck planting the first group for 2011.

My sister also contributed a wonderful addition to the garden - a basket for my supplies! Last year, I got really sick of looking at all of these items strewn about inside the deck door. So, I'm really enjoying this new addition.

Although none of my flowers survived from 2010, I did pick up some repeaters of varieties that I really enjoyed. My main goal, however, is to keep learning and trying to grow new kinds of flowers in my containers. My first batch comes from Johansen's Greenhouse in Madison. Like last year, I went for a mix of annuals and perennials. I planted all of them with an outdoor potting soil. I'm not sure if all of these are going to make it in containers, but that's part of the adventure! Now, without further ado, it's time to welcome the initial members of the Class of 2011:

Papavera Poppy - This is probably the riskiest plant to try to grow in a container. I just love poppies, so I thought I would give it a shot, but I'm not sure how successful this will be.

Snowpoke was the lone survivor from year 1. He doesn't have a lot of room to grow, but he continues to plod along.

Oceana Blue Salvia - This member of the sage family produces bright blue, stalky flowers.

Lisianthus - I'm not sure if I will like this one or not, but I was curious enough to give it a go. It produces tall flowers that have a more old fashioned look to them. I'm not sure what color I will get, the tag claimed "blue" but the picture had a mix of pinks.

Black-Eyed Susan Vine - Last year's favorite is back, but this time, we are trying it in orange!

Rieger Begonia - this is another repeat from last year. Its shade loving nature makes it a great option for my deck and it was so successful last year, that I had to go for it again.

Window Box #1: Hungarian Speedwell, Portucala, Plumbago

Plumbago - this plant is supposedly a pretty good climber, and produces light purple blooms. I'm hoping it will climb down like the petunias.

Portulaca - this plant, also known as moss rose, produces bright yellow flowers with red centers. The cactusy like leaves give it a little edge, and I think it should be a good contrast to its purple box mates.

Hungarian Speedwell - not to be confused with the feisty Hungarian Horntail dragon that Harry

Potter defeated in the Triwizard Tournamnet, this plant is a variety of Veronica that produces purple flowers (a.k.a. "Crater Blue").

Window Box #2: Verbena, Mexican Heather & Lisianthus

Verbena - This was a great success last year, and loves the partial shade, so I picked it up for a second turn at bat.

"Allyson" Mexican Heather - a tough sprawler with fuschia buds.


Finally, I had extra lisianthus, so I stuck them in this box. I don't think they will stay here, but until I decide what to do with them, they'll be hanging out in here.

Window Box #3: Petunias

I just loved the way these trailed down the balcony last year. The deep blue purple and silvery purple flowers also made for a lovely contrast, so I've decided not to mess with success. They are back and in the same spot.

Hanging Basket #1: "Bonfire" Begonias

This hanger houses a unique variety of begonia with fire red blooms. Although red is not in my usual color palette, I couldn't resist the bright, cheerfulness of this hanger.

Week 11 - Year 1: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

While I've already discussed the Bad (See Life Support) and the Ugly (See RIP), I thought I would continue my progress report of sorts by looking at the "Good." Overall, many of my plants are doing exceptionally well and I'm very happy with the progress I have made in my first attempt. Using the law school curve (forgive me, but its still pretty fresh in my mind), I would grade my "good" guys as follows:

The "A+"s (yes, they have A+s in law school, for the "best" in class):

Black-Eyed Susan Vine

This plant has always been a sure winner. From the first day, it has thrived. The only problem it faces is that it is out of room to grow. It is starting to grow downward on to the porch below, but I do not think it will grow long enough to actually get in anyone's way (at least I hope not).

Petunias

These guys are obvious winners. They have succeeded in spindling down their vines and make a nice visual from across the parking lot when you drive up to our building. I've even taken snippets in vases with me to work and they manage to last a full week without natural sunlight in a vase. I highly recommend them for any beginner. I chose to omit the picture, because they've already been featured a lot in this blog.

The "As":

Shamrock

I'm very proud of this little guy because it was near death when I bought it. I've nursed it back to health and it seems to be doing very well. The flowers are very understated, but incredibly charming up close as the the leaves & flowers look like shamrocks with little bells on them.

Browallia

This little guy has tripled in size. I started out with one straight shoot of leaves and flowers and now have a large, round plant with lots of blooms. This one does not require much maintenance and is happy to just keep blooming without interference.

Verbena

This plant is also thriving. It just keeps spreading and brightening up its box. It is also easy maintenance and often just chucks the dead heads itself.

The "Bs":

In law school, every class must finish with a B average, so most of my plants should fall in this category on this curve. Since math is not my strong suit and I'm too lazy to showcase every plant and figure out what their grades should be on a curve, I've featured the more interesting Bs below.

Morning Glory

This plant started out as an A with steady blooms. However, they have been downgraded to a B because it has not bloomed in a few weeks. I think its because the morning glory only wants to grow upward and it has nowhere to go, so it keeps growing on itself.

Every time I look at it, I can't help but think "Its alivvvvvvve" and it creeps me out a little. I could try planting a trellis, but we are already in July, so I will probably let it go for now. I just try to keep it from attacking the heliotrope, but otherwise let it do what it wants.

Sweet Potato Hanger

This hanger of vines is also doing exceptionally well. While it does house some neighborhood birds, it has managed to growth very large and withstand drought and bird-mangling. Some days it is looking more peaky than others, but it always bounces back, which is a great quality in a plant destined for a rookie's garden.

Begonias

This guy keeps wavering between A and B territory. Mostly, because he can't stand up straight. He keeps leaning. I will pack more soil in there, but inevitably, he eats it up and starts to lean again. Otherwise, he looks great.

Week 5 - Year 1: June Showers, Bring July ____?

Before we started gardening, I used to love rain - the smell, the sounds, and the excuse to snuggle up with a good book were a great way to spend a day. Now that I'm gardening, me and the rain gods need to have a talk. We have had rain for a week straight and the forecast predicts more gray and more rain are in our future. I'm wondering if June has become the new April in Madison.

Last weekend was especially bad. Things got so bad with the wind and massive downpour that we had to have an emergency rescue mission, which is what the picture at the top of the blog shows. The window boxes were being pummeled and the pots along the sides were being blown in every direction. So, in the midst of it all, I went out and moved everything to the center. The rain was pretty severe and water was running everywhere.

While the rest of the week days were not as bad, we did not get any sun either, and it's starting to wreak havoc on the garden. I had to move the African Violet inside because I was afraid it could not take this outdoor deluge. The roses have not bloomed since the beginning of the rain. The Morning Glory's leaves are starting to decay. The heliotrope and verbena have not had any new growth and are starting to look sad. The pansies are wilting (in fact, I had to toss some of the ones I had replanted in the Clematis containers). And, the Osteospermum got so excited that it bloomed all at once, keeled over and gave in. This was what was left of the carcass.

However, all hope is not lost yet. The clematis are actually doing pretty well all things considered and some of the smaller pots are starting to bloom. While sun may be coming mid week, I am hard pressed to believe the weather man and am wondering if a grow light would be a better investment.

Week 4 - Year 1: The New Guys

Given the semi-success we've had so far with our container garden, I just couldn't resist adding more members to our wolfpack. We usually go to Johannsen's Greenhouse in Madison, but I thought we should check out the competition and today we went to Felly's Garden Center out near Verona. It was huge and had more selections than Johannsen's and we were able to add some new variety to our collection. However, I think we will probably stick with Johannsen's. While both are nice greenhouses, the longer drive wasn't really worth it, even with the extra stock and we like the staff and set up at Johannsen's better. Plus, Johannsen's has a lot more odds ands ends (like soil, pots variety, etc.), which allows us avoid a trip to the big orange box.

As for the new talent, we added two new containers and two new windowboxes. I planted all of them in a mix of potting soil.

Window Boxes

I placed the new boxes on the sides of the deck. The flowers are a mix of sun/part-sun. The sides of the deck do not get as much sun as the center, but I'm hopeful that it will be enough to support both new boxes.

Window Box #4 (from left to right)

1. Painted Porcelain Sweet Violets

2. ???? - I can't remember! It's driving me crazy, but I cannot remember the name of these flowers. I think it starts with an R. Update - One of my awesome co-workers was able to identify this one for me - it's flowering tobacco, or Nicotiana, which is also known as night jasmine. Thanks, Kathy!

3. Enduring Blue Brachycome

Window Box #5 (from left to right)

1. Dark Blue Verbena

2. Unknown - we found this guy mixed in with the heliotrope, but none of the staff members at Felly's could tell us what it is and there were not any tags on it. It looks like a marigold hybrid of sorts. I'm hoping it plays nice with others, but we will have to wait and see.

3. Heliotrope

Containers

1. African Violets

2. "Grandpa Ott" Morning Glories