Designing Welcoming Containers for Sun

It's that time of year again, when our gazebo overflows with annuals getting acclimated, awaiting a featured spot in one of the many containers that highlight the summer garden. I had a little time this Sunday afternoon to design a couple of the containers that will be placed in our full-sun front garden.

I designed two complementary containers using a combination of flowers and foliage plants. In the 12" container, I planted

• Plectranthus 'Nico'
• Verbena Superbena® 'Violet Ice'
• Coleus Under the Sea® 'Bone Fish'
• Coleus Under the Sea® 'Lion Fish'
• Calibrachoa Superbells® 'Pomegranate Punch'
• Scaevola Surdiva® 'Light Blue'

The 16" container includes

• Plectranthus 'Nico'
• Verbena Superbena® 'Violet Ice'
• Coleus Under the Sea® 'Molten Coral'
• Coleus Under the Sea® 'Red Coral'
• Coleus Colorblaze® 'Alligator Tears'
• Calibrachoa Superbells® 'Pomegranate Punch'
• Petunia Surfinia Summer Double® 'Pink' and 'Rose'

I'm fond of the combination of purple and burgundy in container design, with a splash of magenta thrown in for effect. I'm hoping these containers will serve as a welcoming sight to visitors and passersby alike.


Many of the plants included in these container designs were provided as sample plants from Proven Winners,  Suntory (via Garden Media Group), and Hort Couture. I appreciate the opportunity to try these plants in my garden. I was not required to write about or promote these plants. Some plants may not yet be available to the general public as they are 2014 introductions. All opinions are my own. 

Le Creuset Challege: Chicken Sausage and Kale Stew

When I was given the opportunity to participate in P. Allen Smith's Garden2Blog 2013, my taste buds started to tingle. The wonderful recipes of Allen's that we get to sample while down in Little Rock are downright delectable, but this year we were asked to contribute recipes of our own as a part of the Le Creuset Challenge. We were each provided a Le Creuset French Oven and tasked with using it to create one of our favorite recipes.

I chose a Chicken Sausage and Kale Stew that I first made (based closely on a Real Simple recipe) for our friends on New Year's Day.

Interior Details at P. Allen Smith's Moss Mountain Farm

Having returned back home after participating in P. Allen Smith Garden2Blog 2013 event in Arkansas, I've been reflecting on how this year's event was different than my inaugural trip in 2012. Last year, I focused so much on the wonderful people involved in the event that I missed a great many of the details that make Moss Mountain Farm such a inviting place. This year, I was determined to capture more of the warmth of the place.

I'm far from an interior design expert, but even my unrefined eye could appreciate the precision and thought Allen has put into his home. Down to the angle of each piece of pottery, the interior of the farm house is at once perfect, yet hospitable. I hope that my images below convey a small fraction of the beauty of Allen's home.

Sunday Morning Perfection

The spring bulbs have started to fade as the garden has taken on a lush green reserved for rainy days in May. There's a perfection that exists in plants this time of year, an ephemeral quality that will soon give way to the stresses of a hot Illinois summer. Rain fell inconspicuously as I walked through my sanctuary this morning, bringing alive a sensual intoxication ripe with the scent of apple, lilac and sandcherry blossoms.

Below are a few of the images I captured on this perfect Sunday morning.

My Earth Day Garden

A Spring Evening in the Garden

The Garden Breathes Again

Last week's heavy snow continues a hasty retreat into our once thirsty, now saturated soil. The air carries a freshness into my lungs, chasing the stale residue of winter with each breath. The morning sun illuminates the garden and reveals the spring beneath the snow.

Spring Snowstorm: The Day After

Snowy Night

American Beech: The Magnificent Spectacle

After living in Central Illinois for the last 20 years, I can't say I'm all that attentive when it comes to watching roadside scenery. After all, corn, soybeans and soil tend to meld into a unending conglomeration of boredom, save for the occasional spectacular sunset or storm. Variable topography and natural vistas are in short supply, so when we travel, the roads become a veritable immersion of beauty whirring past at 65 miles per hour.

This past week, on a family vacation that brought us through West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia and Kentucky, our eyes were attracted to a small tree that lit up the forest, even as spring remained in groggy hibernation. From a distance, I thought it might be some species of Prunus, but I hadn't seen any sort of wild cherry hang so tightly to its foliage throughout the winter months. I took a photo and sent it to Steve Bender, my friend and senior writer (a.k.a., the Grumpy Gardener) at Southern Living. I knew that if there was a person best suited to identify a tree south of the Mason-Dixon line from a blurry photo, it was the Grump.