Container Gardening | Sheila Zeller Interiors

June 4, 2012

Do you remember that tune? You know, Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond? No, he wasn’t in my music collection either, but he was my Mom’s favorite!

Anyway, Sweet Caroline. What’s up with that?

Well, Sweet Caroline, Margarita, Marguerite, and Illusion Emerald Lace are the ornamental Sweet Potato Vine plants I was lucky enough to find on Saturday!

Illusion Emerald Lace, Marguerite, Margarita, Sweet Caroline

You see, when I showed you my planters last week they were actually missing the one plant I really wanted in them, and that was any limy green variety of an ornamental Sweet Potato Vine!

Now that I’ve found them, they have been added to the planters, and WOW, what a difference this zip of colour makes.

Here’s a couple of comparison photos, and then I promise to move on from the planters!

You might remember, this is the planter at the front door without the Sweet Potato Vine.

Spiky Red Star, Lavender Wave Petunia, Regatta Rose Lobelia

It’s pretty, and once it fills out it will be really showy.

Here’s what the planter looks like now with the ‘Illusion Emerald Lace‘ added.

Illusion Emerald Lace Sweet Potato Vine

I think it snaps the planter to life with its hit of chartreuse green.

And I have to thank my friend Holly over at West Pear Avenue for helping me out. You see, Holly planted this very variety in her own planter. I knew it was Sweet Potato Vine, but that’s all, and when I commented on it, she was so awesome by following up to tell me the name of it. This is why I love the world of blogging!

Here’s a look at Holly’s planter.

Illusion Emerald Lace, Sweet Potato Vine

Photo: West Pear Avenue

Isn’t it pretty? And look how full her potato vine is already! I hope you’ll pop by West Pear Avenue to see what Holly has been up to

And Holly, thanks so much for your help!

Here’s a look at a couple of my other planters prior to this showy addition.

Remember these ones from the terracotta planter makeovers?

The splash of red really works…

But what do you think about them with this hit of chartreuse?

How about from a bird’s-eye view?

Kind of looks like Christmas in summer! And the planters really pop from the street.

In the large planter I added Marguerite at the back, more Illusion Emerald Lace, and then Sweet Caroline at the front. The smaller planter has Margarita in it.

I added more of these to the other planters in the garden as well, but I promised you I’d move on! But seriously, isn’t it amazing what a difference one little colour tweak can make? And don’t forget, this is true for your inside decor, too!

Oh, did you notice the buds of new geranium flowers coming along? I can’t wait to see how all the planters fill out this summer!

Where are you spending your time these days, inside or out? Any projects taking place? Any needing a little colour tweak?

Today I was back to my painting projects, and one of them was painting the wood for the frame of the sweet pea trellis. There’ll be more on that! My sweet peas have been planted, and Dad has planted his. Let the games begin… or at least the friendly competition to see whose grow in the best!

THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO STOP BY!

It’s about coming home… and home is a special place that tells your story!

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Photos by Sheila Zeller unless otherwise stated

A Little Garden Tour

May 30, 2012

I promised you a little garden tour after scattering the freshly painted terracotta pots around.

So let’s get started!

Welcome. This is the planter that greets you at the front door.

Spiky Red Star Plant, Regatta Rose Lobelia, Lavender Wave Petunia

A new terracotta pot filled with some colourful stuff! I got some great buying tips from Jean over at Flower Hill Design that you might want to check out! This is what’s in the new terracotta planter:

Spikey Red Star
Lavender Wave Petunia
Regatta Rose Lobelia, a little hard to see, because it’s hiding in the back.

And I’m trying something new this year, that I saw on Pinterest…

The bottom of this planter is filled with 3 empty plastic water bottles. This is to help with drainage, and also to fill the planter up a bit. Did you know your pots don’t actually need to be filled with as much dirt as they will hold?

We’ll see how this goes!

At the bottom of the steps we have theses two planters.

Sweet Basil, Chives, Gerbera Daisy

The back planter is filled with Sweet Basil and Chives, and the front planter is a Gerbera Daisy. The Daisy was a gift a while back, and I’m hoping it will like this new home! Notice the rubber bin? You might remember one like it from my article, ‘Recycled Tires in Decor’.

This is a snap-shot of the new BBQ pad area with the flower pots in place…

Red Geraniums, Spiky Dracaena, Lattice Heat Pump Surround, Cement BBQ Pad

And the recently installed heat pump surround, which is ready and waiting for the Sweet Peas to be set out in front. That’s happening soon!

This is the side yard where all the weeding and planting activity has been taking place. You can see how dry this spot gets!

Rock Benches for Plants, Lily of the Valley, Full Sun Garden

The Lily of the Valley you see bordering the rocks came from my Dad. He had to thin his patch out!

Let’s take a closer look at what’s here.

This is the little garden bed by the porch you see, which we put in back in the early Fall.

Iceland Poppy, Hens and Chicks, Frosty Fire Dianthus

Hubby’s parents brought us a bunch of plants from their garden then, and the Black Eyed Susan’s got planted here. We hope they bloom! We’ve also added ‘Frosty Fire’ Dianthus, and a few Hens and Chicks.

Here’s another little planter with more Hens and Chicks.

Hens and Chicks

In the fall we also put in some rock benches for plants.

Rock Benches for Plants, Iceland Poppy, Bleeding Heart, Full Sun Plants

The middle one has a Bleeding Heart in it, which we brought with us when we moved. We weren’t sure it was going to survive, but it came through and bloomed a little earlier this Spring. And the two outside benches were just planted with Iceland Poppies.

Our friends, Scott and Julie, gave us this Lavender bush.

Lavender Bush, Purple Calibrachoa

We transplanted it to this larger ceramic planter, and added the purple trailing Calibrachoa. Eventually the lavender bush will need to be planted in the ground, but for this summer we’re going to enjoy it here.

When we moved in and got to the bottom of the weeding, we discovered some herbs growing underneath. The one in front is Oregano, and the one in back is some kind of mint, but we’re not sure what. Do you know?

Potted Herbs, Basil, Cilantro, Oregano, Mint

We decided to pot up some Cilantro and Basil to join them. I love fresh Basil, and can’t wait for it to really grow!

To go with our herbs, we popped in to Makaria Farm on Sunday for their organic tomato plant sale.

Makaria Farm Organic Tomatoes

Source: Clemens Rettich – Instagram

We thought the little side porch would be perfect to grow a few tomato plants, so we bought three.

Two cherry tomato plants…

Cherry Tomatoes in Pots

On the left is the ‘Indigo Rose’ variety…

Indigo Rose Cherry Tomato

And on the right is the ‘Sun Gold’ variety.

Sun Gold Cherry Tomato

And this larger Heirloom Vine tomato is the ‘Rose’ variety.

Heirloom Vine Tomato, Rose Tomato

I’ve had this stepping stone for a long time.

Stained Glass Stepping Stone

It was given to me by my Mom when we lived on the Charlottes, and has made each move since then. And I’m thinking this is a symbol of good luck that the plants we’ve put in will survive their moves, too!

Just for fun, remember where we started way back when we moved in?

Distressed Yard, Overgrown Yard

No kidding! This is what it looked like!

And here’s one more look at where we’re at now.

Landscaped Bank, Full Sun Plants, Dry Soil

Lily of the Valley Border, Full Sun Plants

I hope you enjoyed the tour!

I’ve joined in the fun and linked up here!

There are a ton of great projects to see, so why not pop over to check them out! Even better, join in the fun yourself!

A special thank you to these lovely hosts!.

And now that we’ve got our planting pretty much finished up, I’m looking forward to getting back to some of my painting projects that have been on hold!

THANKS FOR STOPPING BY!