CHECKING IN ON THIS SUMMER'S CONTAINERS

Somewhere along the line it became August. I have no idea how that happened and I'm none too happy about it, but that means I better check in with the containers like I promised I would back in June.

The deck planters are doing surprisingly well. I feel like the pink mandevilla is a bit more vigorous than the red mandevilla I've grown in previous years. I'm also really happy with the addition of the white zinnias, which I feel tie the whole thing in better to the container and the pergola.  

Here's what it looked like in June.

In the large container by the door, the cardoon has finally started to do its thing.  The Bordeaux petunias are actually quite aggressive and have crowded out much of the light yellow Superbells and the purple sweet potato vine. Overall I'm pretty happy with this, but I wish the sweet potato vine would put it into high gear a little.

And here it is back in June.

The containers on the front steps are getting close to needing a haircut. You can see the top container is not doing well at all and this weekend I think I figured out what is going on: The portico-type roof over the front door, which does not have gutters, is draining right into it. Given the mass quantities of rain we've had this summer, I think the poor thing is being drowned.

Here they are in June.

And that brings me to the window box. Of all the containers I do, this is the one I want to turn out the best and when it doesn't, I get so disappointed that I only get one chance a year to get it right. It's not horrible, but it's not exactly how I had imagined. I'm thrilled with the trailing nasturtiums, even if they are threatening to take over the world (I prune them somewhat aggressively about once a week), but I feel like the height balance is off since they got so wonderfully long. The problem with that, of course, is that those are casement windows that we actually use, so I can't really cover them up with tall plants. 

I also feel like the texture is a bit off. I think something really bold in the back would have been helpful. And lastly, with the nearby 'Cancan' climbing rose blooming bright pink in early summer, the combo with the orange nasturtiums was not great. 

The detail shots of what's going on inside the container are a little more forgiving.

Here's the June view.

Over in the more practical container area, the mint is still going strong and there are five tomatoes on the vine. Usually by now we would have eaten several tomatoes from this container-grown plant and there would be far more than five on the vine. The cool weather has not been good for the tomatoes in containers or the ground.

It's an improvement over what they looked like June.

Did you notice that there's been an addition? I have been wanting to give growing citrus (indoors in the winter) a try for awhile and happened upon a nice Bearss seedless lime and glazed pot at a local nursery's 50% off sale a couple weekends ago so I thought I'd give it a shot. Don't be too impressed with the lime on there: it came on the plant.

I can't complain with the urn in the garden. Although I threw the dahlia in there because I had nothing else and didn't feel like buying more plants, I'm really happy with the effect.

I have a 'Princess Diana' clematis growing through it but it's just starting to flower.

In June, it looked like this:

The 'Green Mountain' boxwood in the container by the garage got a prune in early July so it's a bit neater and the petunias probably could use a little prune to keep them from making the container look out of balance. Overall, everything seems to be happy.

The June view:

 And lastly, the tree stump planter in the new garden has filled out nicely and continues to provide a much-needed spark of color on the far side of the yard.

Here's what it looked like June.