Changing things up.....

[TheSeedObsesser]

NyBoy, try Chinese Windmill Palm.

 

[ninnymary]

Thistle, I'm a visual person so it's hard for me to see the plants all together without a picture. hint, hint. But knowing your talents and the quality of work that you do, I'm sure it's going to look awesome! Your gardening knowledge and skills always amaze me.

Mary

 

[Nyboy]

@TheSeedObsesser good tip, palm hardy to zone 6 with winter protection. I going to try one.Have unheated solar shed I can overwinter in.

 

[thistlebloom]

Nyboy, you need some banana plants to go with your tropical feel. When leafed out well, the wind whips the big fragile leaves into strands that can pass for palm trees.
Oh, and Thistle, I think the Olfactory theme sounds great. How big are the containers?

They're stone pots, ....actually I don't really know what they're made of, the owner always called them "stone".....probably clay, but very durable, not terra cotta, and they are a bit smaller than a half barrel.
The necks slope inward so they are a little restrictive in the planting area, but I manage to cram lots of stuff in them.
They're the ones I planted the EE in one year and showed on here, and also the foliage and floral planting from last year.

 

[thistlebloom]

I forgot about the basil, that's going in there too. This combination will probably require a lot of fiddly tipping and snipping to keep everything behaving, but I'm kind of excited to plant it.
Nothing can go in until mid May, so I'm babysitting. It's safer really to not buy plants until you can put them in, but this little nursery sells out fast and I wanted to make sure I got the pineapple sage and the orange mint.

 

[bobm]

Every year I plant several containers for one of my clients. I really wanted to do something more unusual this year. I love flowers but feel like I'm in a rut....
so I stopped by a little nursery today that specializes in bedding plants.
Just "to look" and get ideas....NYboy knows where I'm heading!

Yeah, walked out with about 3 flats of plants!

So tell me if this sounds like it will be weird because when I get going sometimes I can't tell.

I thought it would be fun to plant the two containers bracing the entry walk with an "olfactory" theme. So for the thriller I picked up Pineapple sage for it's red blooms and yummy foliage. Then I got two lavenders with interesting foliage that will be tall, but shorter than the Pineapple sage. They are a French lavender and a Jagged lavender. I'll plug in tricolor sage, purple sage, Berggarten sage, and apple mint. Around the edge the trailers will be orange mint, allyssum, and a Supertunia "White Russian. Hopefully passersby will want to touch them and get the benefit of the fragrance.
Or it could be a dud and they'll never trust me to do their entry pots ever again!

Here is a hint for you of who wants to live or not since we have similar weather conditions. Since I was new to this area, I bought plants that are supposed to be very winter hardy for the PNW. About 2 + years ago in early spring , I bought 2 tricolor sage, 2 Russian sage, 6 types of lavender from a lavender nursery farm just 3 miles from us , and winter and 5 types of summer blooming heather. All were among the hit of our garden tour. This past Dec. we had 3" of snow and 24* temperatures for 4 days. Of the sage... I have 1 branch of the tricolor sage left. Of the lavender,8 out of 8 of the summer blooming dwarf "Thumbelina", 2 out of 6 summer blooming plants and 2 of a culanary one are alive and well, while the rest are in the compost. As for the winter and summer blooming heathers ...10 out of 10 of the winter blooming ones are thriving, while only 2 out 12 summer blooming plants is still with us while the rest froze to death and joined the compost pile.

 

[canesisters]

waiting on pictures

 

[Smart Red]

@bobm, I suspect thistle bloom's clients will be wanting a new theme every year so what she plants this spring can be brought home in the fall in favor of a more autumnal look to the plantings. Win-win if she gets to keep them long enough to mail the plants to me.

@thistlebloom, I think the plantings sound great and will provide a good mix of pleasing smells and sights. Now if you could somehow get passers by to know they should touch the plants. . .

 

[Smart Red]

. . . I am thinking something like Alice's "Eat me." "Drink me." "Touch me." signs. Probably someone's idea of too tacky for formal applications, but it sure would be great if visitors could be enticed to touch. How about some mechanical something that wiggles or swats the plantings from time to time?

 

[thistlebloom]

Here is a hint for you of who wants to live or not since we have similar weather conditions. Since I was new to this area, I bought plants that are supposed to be very winter hardy for the PNW. About 2 + years ago in early spring , I bought 2 tricolor sage, 2 Russian sage, 6 types of lavender from a lavender nursery farm just 3 miles from us , and winter and 5 types of summer blooming heather. All were among the hit of our garden tour. This past Dec. we had 3" of snow and 24* temperatures for 4 days. Of the sage... I have 1 branch of the tricolor sage left. Of the lavender,8 out of 8 of the summer blooming dwarf "Thumbelina", 2 out of 6 summer blooming plants and 2 of a culanary one are alive and well, while the rest are in the compost. As for the winter and summer blooming heathers ...10 out of 10 of the winter blooming ones are thriving, while only 2 out 12 summer blooming plants is still with us while the rest froze to death and joined the compost pile.

These are intended for only one season in containers for ornamental purposes. The homeowners only occupy this house for about 2 and a half months in the summer.

Actually our climates are not that similar at all Bob. We have colder longer winters and dryer hotter summers.