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Pot Culture

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TPIE shared ideas of a different type of pot culture. Using simple houseplants to calm the eye in a semi shade garden is an unexpected pleasure.

Pot culture is a great way to embrace seasonal color up close and personal. The possibilities depend on the look that you want to achieve. Summer offers tropical options that we might not think about. In January I had the opportunity to attend TPIE -The Tropical Plant International Expo in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. When I left Maryland I had just shoveled the snow from my walkway. My flight could not have been at a better time. I was not sure what to expect in Florida in January. I knew I wanted to expand my familiarity with using tropical plants. TPIE was just the place to explore creative pot culture.

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A strawberry pot used for assorted succulents and topped off with a fern. Easy care display of pot culture.

What is considered a tropical plant in the DMV is what is in the landscape in Florida. I found it amazing to see a bed of begonias as a ground cover in the exterior landscape. Basic plantings like snake plants surrounded by impatiens can inspire any inner gardener. Perhaps not in the ground but what a statement in a pot. Height, structure with a soft skirt in the semi-shade garden…who would have thought about this?? Take those houseplants outside and give them a taste of the tropics. Pot culture has endless possibilities.

Anthuriums and Bromeliads…what a colorful combination. Perfect for a protected spot by a doorway or as a corner accent.

There were combinations of succulents with orchids as a mixed planting. Succulents in varying heights, natural color combinations as well as tropicals hung high to draw the eye up as well as around. A pitcher plant in a hanging basket, instead of a trailing petunia – exotic vs. traditional. Succulents planted on the bottom and sides of moss covered baskets – hanging or tilted on the ground are unique. One such succulent that would drape is the donkey tail cacti.

Pitcher plants are an eclectic option for a hanging basket that is bound to evoke a conversation or two.

Consider the container as well. There are so many creative options to contain beauty. From paint cans, tires, broken pots, rotted bottom wheelbarrows, chairs, and more. A rectangular planter hanging at eye level with an assortment of bodacious tropicals adds interest to any setting.

Eclectic, creative containers add interest to the most basic plantings.
Succulents in a trough hanging is always a different option for pot culture.

No place to hang a planter? Pots at assorted heights with textural foliage, assorted blooms or not. Using cinder blocks, assorted wooden blocks or even bricks, assorted height combinations add interest in a basic way.

Bougainvillea is a great plant for trailing or climbing for a long blooming pop of color. Excellent for a statement pot to anchor a sunny spot.

In a sunny corner, a collection of pots can add pop. A lush bougainvillea, sun-loving coleus, a Brugmansia in a pot underplanted with Vinca graced with Dichondra Falls…just a few options for pot culture. Exploring the options for what can be planted in a pot was a lesson well learned at TPIE.

This is a great silver accent plant that trails or adds sprawling interest on the ground. I love it cascading from pots and then gracing the ground…amazing display!

I am glad I took the time to go to TPIE. As I begin to create bodacious planters for my terrace, I am inspired to think out of the box for my unique expression of pot culture. Will you think beyond the usual annuals and perennials and consider personalizing your pot culture?

Considering tropicals for my pots,

Teri, Cottage In The Court

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Peace In Anne Spencer’s Garden

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Peace is here and in every season
a quiet beauty.

Excerpt from For Jim – Easter Eve by Anne Spencer

Anne Bethel Spencer February 6, 1882 – July 27, 1975) Not just your everyday gardener but an American poet, teacher, civil rights activist, and librarian.

Peace in the garden is quite special. Peace among a group of people is an amazing thing. Who knew that most gardeners are believers in peace, love and happiness. Every time I attend an event pertaining to gardening, I am carrying the spirit of Anne Spencer on my shoulders. It was Anne Spencer who wrote about and found peace in her Virginia garden.

Anne Spencer, an African American Woman, a recognized poet of the Harlem Renaissance, didn’t start school until she was 11 years old, only to become quite the voice of her time. Anne Spencer also had a bodacious garden in Lynchburg, Virginia that was the place to pause or spend the night for many African Americans of note, who traveled but could not stay at certain establishments. The organizer of the Lynchburg NAACP in 1918, Anne was very much aware of what was going on around her but chose to write of peace, love, and happiness.

Heaven’s Virginia when the year’s at its Spring.Anne Spencer

As an African American woman who gardens, I can’t help but wonder how Anne Spencer started gardening. Was it when she sat to write on those pieces of paper, which have been lost over time? Perhaps gardening was a welcome distraction. Finding the mental seeds to create a literary garden in her mind, ready to plant on paper. Was it to get outside, allowing nature to help her curate a personal place of peace? I will never know the true answer to the question of why Anne Spencer gardened. I do understand why her garden is just a meaningful as her words ad more important than ever.

Peace in the garden is often a sacred thought. When I immerse myself in the garden, I find the words that often escape me when inside. The evening air gently gliding over my shoulders, the stars illuminating my keyboard..the words come as I am surrounded by peace. Imagining Anne Spencer with her slips of paper, pencil in hand, the moon guiding her words as she sits in her garden writing thoughts of peace, love, and happiness.

Edankraal, built by Anne Spencer’s husband, Edward. The name combines both their names as well as the word “kraal”, the Afrikaans word for enclosure or corral.

I must visit Anne Spencer’s Garden. Paying homage to this African American woman who was more than a poet, she was a gardener. Thank you to the Spencer family for finding partners to help preserve such an important structure and garden. Anne Spencer’s garden lives on in her memory.

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Gardentopia – Blueprint for Beautiful

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Gardentopia captured my heart like any book written by Jan Johnsen tends to do. It was hard to turn the page without a lot of emotion from the beauty on each and every page.

Gardentopia Design Basics for Creating Beautiful Outdoor Spaces by Jan Johnsen is a five chapter blueprint of brilliance in landscape design. Novice or experienced gardeners will see the value of having this book in their collection. Trust me, it will not sit on your shelf.

Our gardens are personal interpretations of who we are. Jan Johnsen gifts the reader with ideas on gaining perspective of their green spaces. Stepping back, visualizing what you want and then implementing the  garden of your dreams is key.

Sharing thoughts on considering the genius of place, Gardentopia has captured the pictures to complement the words for a successful blueprint for beauty. From recycling, using additional vistas, to how to use circles in the landscape are a few of the topics Jan Johnsen shares in Gardentopia.

We are all aware that first impressions are lasting. The front yard can share your personality to the world. From the walkway width to the plant selection to the planters, each has a role to play. The benefits? Property values can be increased by 10 – 15%…nice, huhn?

Chapter 4 delves into Color In The Garden. I love color, adore color. I cannot live without bold colors in my garden. If you are hesitant of  color and what it can do for your garden – this is the chapter for you. Color can uplift the spirit and calm down the setting…oh the magic of color!

Jan provides a blueprint for color and how to use it in the garden. One color, hot colors, restful colors, sometimes it can be hard to decide what color and how to use it. Color can be more than just the plants you choose. Page 187 – I almost have the words memorized. The words on this page truly reached in and touched my soul. Jan shared thoughts on the sound of flowers. I get emotional just thinking about the words again and again.

I highly suggest this book for anyone who communicates with nature via the garden. With several days ahead for gifting like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, graduation or just a I Love Me gift for self, Gardentopia should be at the top of the list. Jan Johnsen speaks my language as she simplifies the perfect blueprint for creating your beautiful outdoor space.

Thank you Jan Johnsen for such a beautiful book that the world can use.

Visualizing Beauty Daily,

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Tropical Plant Experience in January

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Oh how beautiful tropical plants are in the landscape…

Tropical plants are not usually on my brain in January. The Cottage is in zone 6b. The ability to grow tropical plants is utterly impossible. If you have an indoor garden room, tropical plants are a bonus in the midst of winter. At this time of the year checking for heaving plants is the task at hand. This year, a fellow GardenComm member Sylvia Gordon encouraged me to come down to TPIE in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I know quite a few snowbirds who leave the cold at Christmas for tropical plants and warmer climates. I never felt the need to miss the seasonal weather surprises. As the snow fell in my garden, I could not get to the airport soon enough. Oh, what a journey this was!

The first day we toured some of the most beautiful gardens with tropical plants that I have ever seen in January.

TROPICAL PLANTS IN THE LANDSCAPE

Sylvia Gordon took us to handpicked properties showcasing tropical plants used in Florida landscapes.

We started with the more formal landscapes.

Tropical plants embracing a beautiful stage in the middle of the lawn for evening performances or daytime theater, of course.

This is a totally different perspective on garden art. The perfect accent for the surrounding yard.

This pool was simply beautiful tucked neatly behind a historic home.

This was one of the detailed gates which lead up to the driveway of a gorgeous home and a landscape with tropical pants galore.

Tropical plants in front of this estate provided most of the color on this property.

A beautiful Chalice vine graced the area above the garage. This is a tropical plant I wish I could grow in Maryland.

Chalice vine, a Florida tropical plant, neatly manicured clung to an area which was bare. A beautiful statement for this historic property.

We visited properties that were not historic, but simply elegant.

Blissful nooks that made us pause to capture the moment.

Whimsical doors that led to secret spaces…

More garden art that caused us to smile.

We also visited landscapes with unique touches…

This landscape contained pavers with fossil imprints. Talk about unique.

President of GardenComm Becky Heath, Sally Cunningham, Buffalo Garden Walk, and another guest paused as we waited for lunch before boarding the bus.

This was a perfect day coordinated by two stellar ladies.

Sylvia Gordon, Landscape by Sylvia, (L) and Debra A.DeMarco, D.D.M Horticultural Service and Me, Cottage In The Court, basking in the glow of a perfectly planned day! Perfect for me because I made the January journey to experience tropical in the landscape.

With my partners in crime in tow, it was a beautiful experience and this was just day 1!

Teresa Watkins, Denise Schreiber, and I…we truly enjoyed the day!

CAPTURED GLIMPSES OF TROPICAL BLISS…

Here are a few more pictures of how beautiful the tropical plants made a typical January day beautiful.

A white garden…

Our guide Brian Rogers did not realize so many people would enjoy his garden.

I think the group could have stayed and looked out over the water….just dreaming.

Another reason to pause…water…and a reason to rest our eyes. The tropical plants added the perfect touch.

Just a little more water…with a few tropical plants.

Sylvia Gordon checked in with each of us as we made our way to the final garden for the day – Patch of Heaven.

Reliving my tropical adventure in January,

Teri, Cottage In The Court

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Spring Self Care for Gardeners

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Spring blooming trees add color to an otherwise bleak landscape…

Spring has sprung. When I walk Precious it is dark, but not as dark as last week. I could feel Spring embracing me. It was warmer, the air felt lighter, the birds were singing and the woodpecker chorus was in full swing. In the distance, the moon in it’s waxing crescent shined a bit of light along the way. I knew the presence of Spring was near.

One of my patio planter’s has new residents. A smattering of Rainbow chard, a small gathering of Longstanding Spinach, kohlrabi, and of course Heirloom carrots for good measure. Cool season vegetables planted in Spring paves the way for experimenting with different summer vegetables. Trying new things is always a treat. For most gardeners, Spring is the busiest time of the year!!

Viola’s welcome Spring as they try to outshine each other. It’s not important to outshine, it is important to be the best you can be. Self-satisfaction is key.

In the midst of our seasonal madness, we sometimes forget Self Care. Here are a few tips for Springtime Self Care:

  • Stretch daily. After nesting most of the winter, our limbs might not be as pliable as they once were. Especially as we age, stretching can aid in breathing better and delaying the need for ointments and creams to ease sore muscles.
  • Hydrate often. As we walk through our landscapes, forest bathe or visit public gardens we can be distracted and ignore the need for food and drink. All the pretty flowers, garden trinkets and beautiful new containers that we “NEED”…not so fast. We need to stay hydrated now, so the habit of carrying fresh water throughout the season is second nature. Taking a break to just sit outside, have a snack and absorb some Vitamin D is like feeding your soul.
  • Shop sensibly. I am so guilty of needing everything that catches my eye. I also just purged my house after renovations. If there is no plan, think about it first. Use your phone, take a photo, go home, and consider the possibilities BEFORE you buy.
  • Reuse-Recycle-Reduce. Before throwing away a pot with a chip, can you ant something that will drape over to cover up the imperfection? Why throw away a perfectly usable but imperfect container? Those wine bottles, inverted make a great edging for a border (mine is 6 years old now with no breakage).
  • Be a Localper as often as possible. I pride myself as I make every effort to shop with local smaller garden centers. By doing so, it really helps the local economy and you can curate a garden community of folks who KNOW you. What a terrific way to grow a garden community on a local level.
  • Support local events as well as local Garden Clubs. Now we are really talking community. There are talks, trips, plant swaps, tool trades and more. After all, garden life is all about building a growing conversation on gardening and growing.

    Quiet time alone is a way to settle the mind, connect with your inner self and just bask in the beauty that surrounds us.

Take care of yourself this Spring. By the time summer comes, you will be ready to take on another season of garden bliss!

Carefully restraining myself as I anticipate a colorful Spring!

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