Such a nice sight in winter!
In our wet winters, any plant that holds water droplets like jewels has my admiration!
Slugs and aphids love them too. Ain't nature (and hybridization) swell?
I came up with a couple of things before the challenge to fill the pots occupied by brugmansias during the summer:
This weekend, I brought in the last of the tender plants and filled the greenhouse, so some are spending the winter in the human house. More on that in a future post.
During the summer, the Danger Gardenette looks like this:
or this:
However, during the winter, it looks like a random collection of vacant plant stands with a few empty pots thrown in for good measure - a bit unsightly so I'd simply not visit that part of the garden in the winter or walk by and promise myself that tidying it up would be next on my list but with sufficient procrastination, it would be spring and time to move the plants back out again.
This Saturday, I decided to perhaps do something else with a few OC&K's that I had on hand and came up with these:
There are a number of potted evergreens in various parts of my garden and I thought it might be interesting to bring them together on the site of the Danger Gardenette along with the OK&C pots to create some winter interest there so here's what it looks like now:
Still needs some tweaking but at least I won't have to avert my eyes when passing this area all winter.
The Questions: As only one image can be entered in the competition, should I use one of the pots or, with a bit more work, submit the entire D.G. area or should I come up with something completely different, perhaps incorporating glass in some way? Will you be joining in the fun of the challenge? It's open to everyone and submissions will be accepted until November 1 (All Saints Day.) For more details click here.
I'm in awe. I absolutely love everything you've done! I'm going to hold off on suggesting which photo you should enter, wouldn't want to be accused of influencing the judges.Re: aphids...I had one last cabbage languishing in the stock tank holding area, waiting for inspiration to strike, and picked it up this weekend. Holy moly! I don't think there are any aphids anywhere in Portland right now. They were all on that plant. It got tossed in the yard waste bin.
ReplyDeleteI found some on a couple of the cabbages I bought - two different vendors but they both had recently received the plants. No problem, though, a little soapy water and bam, they're gone.
DeleteI love that first shot with the cabbage in the pumpkin-like pot with the pansies and the Heuchera as accents but, to win the challenge, you probably need to go big. Add some glass! You have such talent in that area so it may put you over the top in the competition. Loree doesn't believe me but I've yet to see any OC&K in my local garden center and I haven't had an opportunity to wander further afield.
ReplyDeleteHa! Of course I believe you!
DeleteIt's really hard to choose. I like that one two but might just go with the whole things - maybe throw in some glass chunks here and there.
DeleteFantastic work Peter, really impressed with the new incarnate of the Danger Gardenette! Do use the entire pic of it although the individual arrangements are equally as impressive!
ReplyDeleteThanks guys! We're so lucky to live in climates that allow us to have so many plants for winter interest and not have them covered with snow for weeks on end!
DeleteI think the Danger Gardenette looks wonderful. You should call it the "Winter Look" and start the tradition of creating this composition every fall. All the pot arrangements are beautiful, and yet, like Kris, I'd love it if you do something with glass. You are at the glass master after all.
ReplyDeleteI do like having some interest there in the winter instead of just looking like a tornado hit it. The idea of moving evergreens there for winter interest has been percolating for a while and adding some plants from the pot ghetto along with the cabbage/kale plants came about fairly quickly. Thinking about how to add glass (kind of an attention hog sometimes) in a way that would enhance rather than distract from the plants.
DeleteOh, wow! I would have a hard time choosing which photo. But I do like the second to the last one, with some careful cropping. Great job, Peter!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Linda! It was fun to put this together mostly with plants already kicking around.
DeleteI love your kale arrangements Peter ! I think it would be fun to enter the kale version of the Danger Gardenette - You can just keep re-arranging and taking photos and then pick your favorite.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I'll do some editing/re-arranging as you suggest and your idea of taking photos of various arrangements is brilliant!
DeleteYou came up with some great combinations of plants to go with all those ornamental kale. It was brilliantly inspired to put them out in the danger gardenette too, to fill all the empty space created by moving plants into the greenhouse. I often have the same problem with my little front porch in the winter -- lots of empty plant stands.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Alison. It was fun and the danger garden no longer looks so bad in the winter. I'm seeing a cabbage and kale front porch arrangement happening at your house!
DeleteI love the summer Danger Gardenette like crazy, and think the winter DG is splendid. No OC&K in these parts, but the contest is full of awesomeness. Well played!
ReplyDeleteSo your garden is a huge, beautiful sliding tile game! Move a zillion pots into the greenhouse from the DG-ette, move other pots from throughout the garden into the now-empty DG-ette, then the next step is (I assume) buying more plants and pots to fill the holes in the rest of the garden? :)
ReplyDeleteI used to do these plants as well ... now you have made me sad that I forgot this year ... but at least I can drool over these pictures ? Love them !!
ReplyDeleteJoy : )
Man! Do you ever rise to a challenge!
ReplyDelete