On plants and pots



Hanging pot lined with paper
and filled with opsoil

I've always wondered about these lined planters that are available for purchase; and last year bought the one on the left to hang in my vegetable garden area.  I put a saucer on the bottom to help retain the water and filled it with potting soil.  Alas, the material on the sides of these are like a colander; so everytime it rained or got watered last summer, the water ran through it like a sieve.  Needless to say, the plants in it didn't grow very well.  The garden center this year suggested lining it with plastic punched with holes; but I decided to use several layers of paper instead.  Conventional garden wisdom is to always use potting soil in planters - I've never really understood the reasoning behind this - so I used purchased topsoil this year.  I think it holds water better than potting soil, and doesn't dry out so quickly.


I bought some large planters for my front steps - and also filled them topsoil.  Rather than buy annuals, I used a variety of plants that I had in my garden.  The large plant in the back is a ninebark that was in the wrong place - so I cut it in half and put one in each of the two containers.
I wanted the containers to match our front door that was painted spring green last year.  The pot was a little light, so I sponged some of the door paint on top.  I love how it looks.



 Last summer I bought a Colocasia bulb and planted it in the garden.  It took a while for it to come up, but was beautiful when it did.  I dug it up to save for this summer, and it was quite a challenge because of it's extensive root system. I was trying to think of where to put it this year, and was thinking of using a pot, but was concerned that there wouldn't be enough room for it's root system.  But lo and behold, a concrete pot that I was on the front steps broke while being lifted, and the bottom fell off.  So I now had a place for my bulb to grow in a container, but with room for it's roots.

 Found another use for a broken pot - this one fell out of my hands while I was trying to move it.  It had a nice clean cut, and it seemed a shame to through it out.....





So it found a new home as a backdrop to my hellebore!