Spring planning for changes to the Containers:
I have enjoyed composing seasonal plantings in pots for north Texas for the past several years, and it’s all about what works with our weather and makes our client happy. We create, the plants compete for space and it must be easy to maintain. When it grows it grows big in Texas!
Pots have a distinct shape. A top, a bottom, sides. Choosing the plants to either flow over or remain in the boundary of the edges to the treatment of the edges dictate the outcome. How I design a planting begins with the size, location (sunny, part sun or shade or shady) sun exposure determines the plants survival.
Containers with ornament and detail at the top edge are disguised with mature plantings that conceals the details. Some pots claim visual respect of the edges. For containers with beautiful details I think of upright plants. The affiliation between the planting and the pot is a connection worth discovering. There are ornamental pots that look great unplanted too.
When I was young and lived in the apartment, then the condo life, all of my plants were in containers. It was the only way for me to have plants and even then, I never worried about my composition, what was important to me was healthy, colorful, and fruitful plants. Now I worry about the composition; colors, size, textures, and edges. I use the containers to frame some views, and camouflage others.
No matter how boisterous and wild the planting is, the container, well, it contains it.
With the Apple green strata pot on the left, we went up, flowing and used relationship colors to set off the pots. The pot is too beautiful to obscure. The pot on the right we used Boxwood, Blackfoot Daisy for color and Sedge for texture.
The Strata is a glazed, ribbed pot, large enough for topiary or a combination of plants, we ran irrigation to the pots to supplement on those hot days, but, even with irrigation it still needs supplemental watering because of the sunny location. It’s hot and dry in Texas. The sides are sleek and contoured, this is one of our favorites to use, we love it in red and black too. The edge meeting the ground is large and substantial. What we planted had everything to do with the shape, size, color and decoration to complement the pot. The Pot on the right is a Monaco pot, medium size with a ribbed edge in antique finish.
I’m looking forward to working with our spring plants, for size and variety.
