Annual Container Day

 Yesterday was annual container day.  The weatherman promised warm night time temps for at least a week which will put us thru to Memorial Day weekend and we should be OK for frost.  I am happy to report that there is no major damage from the frost.  I had pepper plants in the cold frame and sweet potato vine under frost cloth.  Both have very soft, velvety leaves and they pouted all morning and looked droopy but by afternoon the sun had changed their attitude.  We will see if the peony buds were shocked too much to bloom, and of course, the apple trees were unprotected.  The temperature in the morning on the garden thermometer was 27F which is pretty darn cold.

I started gathering annuals a few weeks ago so I was really tired of watering.  Each of these pots needed to be checked daily, and watered individually with a narrow spout and that gets very tedious.  I was really pleased with the color variation and texture I assembled this year.  These annuals are for the five containers visible as you approach our main entrance to the house so they need to coordinate.

The Salmon Geraniums did so well last year I decided to go with the same theme.  I usually repeat a theme two or three seasons with little variation before I get tired of it.  Again, my "thriller" is Prince Tut Papyrus.  I have a Euphorbia for a "filler" and sweet potato vine and Creeping Jenny for "spillers".  I still have a little room in the container in front of the chicken coop and will still be on the lookout for a blue spiller.

This asymmetrical planting has a smaller Queen Tut Papyrus "thriller" and an Ivy "spiller"

I also got my sweet corn seeded.  Last year I had a terrible time getting the second planting of corn to come up.  Something kept eating the seeds.  I've covered the bed with medium security measures for starters.  Hopefully I trapped all of the mice last summer and this year won't be such a struggle.