Some of the things I do with baskets and pots in my yard. I grow and sell a lot of Petunias in the spring and that is mostly what goes in to my baskets. These pics are from the summer of 2015.
The problem I have with petunias relates to the British weather, the rain flattens them and I'm forever deadheading - much prefer the calibrachoa personally
Aym, Texas is 6 hours earlier than London. So it is presently 8:00 am here. I suspect you'll have just finished lunch? I'm barely awake on my second cup of tea. Button, my 13 y.o. rat terrier, woke me up at 5:15 today! Her usual wake-up time is around 6am, so I was NOT happy with her. Then she lays back down and falls right back to sleep in her favorite chair in the back bedroom. Me, I'm not so lucky.
Aym, I have a little gardening business which grows a bit each year. I decided last summer that I wouldn't spend $400 each fall on buying seeds. I collected all my own seeds and am amazed at my success with the germination rate of my Petunia and Impatiens seeds so far.
We have wild summers here Aym. Intense sun and heat, I'm on the edge of the N. American Great Plains. From the end of June to the end of August is tornado season here. Last summer was really crazy with the daily afternoon storms that would quickly roll through with everybody keeping an eye on the clouds for tornado's forming and touching down.
The summer of 2014, I had a great looking backyard of baskets and pots and beds, an afternoon hail storm came through, in 10 minutes every single plant was shredded. It recovered just in time for the frost.lol
I suppose there is a method to my madness, much trial and error.
For my baskets a good soil mix is a must. In Alberta we only have maybe 4 months to put on a good show so I fertilize. Starting when I plant the basket, a slow release hanging basket pelleted fertilizer (Plant Prod) gets worked into the top of the soil in the baskets. Once a week I mix a heaping table spoon of water soluble 20-20-20 fertilizer into 4 litre milk jugs of water and all the baskets and pots get a good feed of it.
I kinda research or refresh my memory each spring on how the plants grow and hang and how the different colours will look together.
For instance that one picture of the Petunia pots on the ladder. Those orange African Sunset Petunias should have been at the back of the pot with the wave fuchsia coloured petunias in front holding them up.
If you use Petunias, don't be afraid to give them a good hair cut when they start looking scraggly, I do it around the end of July. They love it!
WATCH FOR APHIDS and hit the plants with a strong spray of the garden hose to knock them off. Not so strong that it rips up the plants of course.
Never let you baskets go really dry.
That's really it with what I do.
Oh one more thing, if any of you keep a fish tank, your plants will love the old water from your water changes, don't send it down the drain.
I thought we would be in the same time zone, Alberta and Texas? I guess an hour difference, Alberta is Mountain time. It's 7:16am here and my second cup of coffee. Just checked the chart, I'm in the same zone with N Mexico and Arizona.
Yes, Johnny, Mountain time is 1 hour earlier than me in Central Texas on Central Time. Thanks for the tip on pruning petunias. I didn't know they liked pruning......and they indeed get quite scruffy at a point. I'll have to remember that. I used to have a 50 gallon fish tank, but sadly, I didn't move it up here when we left the Galveston area. A neighbor down the street has one though. Perhaps he'd bucket up that water and give me a call to come get it? Worth asking.
Posts
Some of the things I do with baskets and pots in my yard. I grow and sell a lot of Petunias in the spring and that is mostly what goes in to my baskets. These pics are from the summer of 2015.
The problem I have with petunias relates to the British weather, the rain flattens them and I'm forever deadheading - much prefer the calibrachoa personally
Beautiful garden of gorgeous flowers, Johnny. I'm envious.
I also sow Gypsophila seeds to fill in spaces, pinching them out well to make bushy plants.
Yes, clearly pro skill level there.
I hope mine do fill out nicely. I haven't done hanging/wall baskets in eons.
Thanks, Aym. I plan to stick around and learn from everyone.
Aym, Texas is 6 hours earlier than London. So it is presently 8:00 am here. I suspect you'll have just finished lunch? I'm barely awake on my second cup of tea. Button, my 13 y.o. rat terrier, woke me up at 5:15 today! Her usual wake-up time is around 6am, so I was NOT happy with her. Then she lays back down
and falls right back to sleep in her favorite chair in the back bedroom. Me, I'm not so lucky.
Last edited: 08 March 2017 14:07:14
Thanks Aym and Peggy.
Aym, I have a little gardening business which grows a bit each year. I decided last summer that I wouldn't spend $400 each fall on buying seeds. I collected all my own seeds and am amazed at my success with the germination rate of my Petunia and Impatiens seeds so far.
We have wild summers here Aym. Intense sun and heat, I'm on the edge of the N. American Great Plains. From the end of June to the end of August is tornado season here. Last summer was really crazy with the daily afternoon storms that would quickly roll through with everybody keeping an eye on the clouds for tornado's forming and touching down.
The summer of 2014, I had a great looking backyard of baskets and pots and beds, an afternoon hail storm came through, in 10 minutes every single plant was shredded. It recovered just in time for the frost.lol
I suppose there is a method to my madness, much trial and error.
For my baskets a good soil mix is a must. In Alberta we only have maybe 4 months to put on a good show so I fertilize. Starting when I plant the basket, a slow release hanging basket pelleted fertilizer (Plant Prod) gets worked into the top of the soil in the baskets. Once a week I mix a heaping table spoon of water soluble 20-20-20 fertilizer into 4 litre milk jugs of water and all the baskets and pots get a good feed of it.
I kinda research or refresh my memory each spring on how the plants grow and hang and how the different colours will look together.
For instance that one picture of the Petunia pots on the ladder. Those orange African Sunset Petunias should have been at the back of the pot with the wave fuchsia coloured petunias in front holding them up.
If you use Petunias, don't be afraid to give them a good hair cut when they start looking scraggly, I do it around the end of July. They love it!
WATCH FOR APHIDS and hit the plants with a strong spray of the garden hose to knock them off. Not so strong that it rips up the plants of course.
Never let you baskets go really dry.
That's really it with what I do.
Oh one more thing, if any of you keep a fish tank, your plants will love the old water from your water changes, don't send it down the drain.
Peggy,
I thought we would be in the same time zone, Alberta and Texas? I guess an hour difference, Alberta is Mountain time. It's 7:16am here and my second cup of coffee. Just checked the chart, I'm in the same zone with N Mexico and Arizona.
Yes, Johnny, Mountain time is 1 hour earlier than me in Central Texas on Central Time. Thanks for the tip on pruning petunias. I didn't know they liked pruning......and they indeed get quite scruffy at a point. I'll have to remember that.
I used to have a 50 gallon fish tank, but sadly, I didn't move it up here when we left the Galveston area. A neighbor down the street has one though. Perhaps he'd bucket up that water and give me a call to come get it? Worth asking. 
Last edited: 08 March 2017 15:31:40