Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Lee's Corner

My friend Lee gets all the credit for this post. I went to visit her last week and this is what awaited me on her front steps. You'll immediately recognize one of my all time favorite plants: Red Abyssinian Banana and although you can't really see much of the pot in this photo, I can tell you that it is gargantuan. You have to go really big when you plant this tropical because it grows so large so fast. Lee intends to overwinter it in her garage so she can have it again next year. I have never done that only because I don't have the space so we'll use Lee as our test case and I'll report back.

As far as the other plants in the pot, she has done an expert job of incorporating a nice selection, including some coleus for fillers and calibrachoa as a trailer. Lee and I got together last summer to plant some containers and I had shared with her the tip I got from Fine Gardening magazine about Thrillers, Fillers and Spillers. I think her arrangement is a terrific example of this technique. Way to go Lee!


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lee and I got together last summer to plant some containers and I had shared with her the tip I got from Fine Gardening magazine about Thrillers, Fillers and Spillers. I think her arrangement is a terrific example of this technique.

I loved that special issue. It really influenced how I plant containers. Before, I plunked a large focal point in the middle of the pot, and underplanted it with plain vanilla annuals. It never occurred to me to pick plants that complimented each other and fulfilled different roles.

Miriam said...

Fern: I know, it has totally changed the way I think about gardening. As a result, over the years I've gotten a lot more bold in my plant choices--Miriam