Because I work nights, my husband and son have taken over the lawn. In the end, that’s a good thing. But I’ve been feeling disenfranchised. So I wondered what could I do to spread my touch on the property. Container gardening.
I found the class, fall and winter container gardening, though the city of Everett’s parks guide. What a value for only $11.
Our teacher was Jean Van Hollebeke, who brought with her the horticulture knowledge of 20 plus years. She also brought a lot of passion about plants. And she brought a selection of different, unique and beautiful plant samples. Jean’s approach was a combination of daring and practical when it comes to containers, whose point was to get us thinking outside the plant box and standard kale and pansie combos.
Jean handed out a very helpful guideline about containering, covering such topics as what to put in a pot (stuff that grows slowly and plant it full) to form and texture (different textures and choosing colors opposite on the color wheel) and color choices, such as monochromatic displays to complementary to opposites. She also added sections on soils and fertilizer and adding bulbs. She showed some of her own favorites such as heucheras “midnight rose,” swiss chard eye-catching arrangements and winterberry. She answered questions patiently, giving tips on controlling slugs and using one-gallon milk jugs to take up some space in huge pots that you don’t want to fill completely with soil.
For the totally lazy or the hopelessly container challenged, Jean also sent us home with two handouts of winning container combinations so all we had to do was buy the plants and pots and put it all together.
I had a personal issue of some black mondo grass that I’ve moved to various locations in the yard and it never looking good. Jean helped me by reiterating the thoughts on opposites: the dark, spiky black mondo grass needed something with a jazzy color and softer texture. She suggested mixing it with golden creeping jenny. She happened to have a picture of that combination and it did indeed look stunning.
That weekend, I went to Sunnyside nursery in Marysville looking for creeping jenny. Also they were out. But I still had a hold of the concept of opposites. So I bought some yellow or golden thyme, some sedum autumn joy that had pinkish blossoms and some heucheras coral bells. I had some other sedums around the house and another plant that blooms with puffy red flowers but I don’t know the name. Anyway I had a cobalt blue ceramic pot and I “packed it full” of all of my selections. I have to say I love looking at my pot which I parked on our front porch right outside the dining room window. It won’t be long before this containers has companions
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
