Here’s a combination I created last summer for a client. I loved the way these plants thrived. Despite some troubling weather set-backs we had in 2021 at the start of the container season, they performed beautifully all summer into early fall. These plants tolerate full sun, drought, and wind fairly well.

The beautiful fluted hot pink flowers of the tropical plant in the center, called Dipladenia vine, was a perfect candidate. These plants continuously bloom and hold on to their blooms pretty well in windy conditions. It does not vine upwards, like Mandevilla vines do, but spread out more as it grows. The flowers are just gorgeous, and sometimes towards the end of the summer, they may fade a bit to a softer pink but overall they retain their form and color beautifully in containers.

I paired up the Dipladenia (thriller plant in the center) with a annual plant, Calibrachoa. The Calibrachoa has small Petunia like blooms on trailing stems which would eventually cascade over the rim of the pot (serving as a spiller) in this combination. It also is a sun lover and prefers well-drained soil kept evenly moist. The reason I selected the Calibrachoa, an annual plant here in Connecticut, is because of the coloring and form of the flowers. It has an outer pink to lavender color with a ring of a darker toned pink in the centers of its blooms. It was one color I had not see before for this annual, and thought of how well it would pair with the hot pink Dipladenia. It repeats the form of the larger hot pink flowers of the Dipladenia, and shares the same coloring in the pink hues.

Also tucked in the corner is a Sedum (stonecrop) (see top photo on right) which is a perennial. It is called ‘Firecracker’ of the Sunsparkler series. Again, using another sun lover which tolerates periods of drought. The Sedum is hardy in Connecticut as a zone 4-9 plant, and blooms from late summer into early fall, however, it ended up getting hidden by the plants next to it by the end of the season. You couldn’t see it later in the season which is unfortunate, because I loved how the burgundy shiny succulent foliage gave a darker contrasting color to the hot and soft pinks in the combination. Sedum stonecrop plants makes nice groundcover in hot full sun landscapes, and again, I tend to use perennials in pots here and there as the anchors or foliage (filler) plants. They are good performers and easy care plants in either situation.

To the right of the planter with the hot pinks, I planted a large leaved perennial, a Lamb’s Ears perennial plant with a hardiness up to Zone 4. It is a hardy plant in Connecticut, typically used in sunny landscape beds, but I enjoy using perennials in my container gardens as well for adding the foliage power. I knew the soft, silvery, woolly leaves would look beautiful with the hot and soft pinks nearby. These plants are very easy care and again, love the hot sun, and can take drought. This Lamb’s Ears is called ‘Big Ears’ (Stachyz byzantina) because the leaves are huge, and the plant caught my attention right away. Bigger than the typical varieties of this plant, it was a perfect candidate for the tall planters. Another benefit of this plant is it is not preferred by deer, which is not an concern at this location but good to know for use in landscape beds. I also find, if planted in full sun, it doesn’t get any insect issues. If you try to plant it in shade or part sun, it won’t perform as well, and may even rot if in a damp location. And of course, it is soft and fluffy, and one of those plants you like to touch which makes it a fun candidate in outdoor areas on patios, decks, and wherever you may reach out to touch it. It grew at least two times bigger by the end of the summer season in its planter.

In the smallest of the trio of tall planters, I planted a plant with soft blue flowers which are also sun lovers, or part sun. These bloom all season and tolerated the conditions at this site well (hot sun, windy, periods of drought). However, by the end of the year, while the plant grew huge, it didn’t have as many flowers as I expected, but the foliage stayed lovely. I had written about this plant before. I used it in wedding container gardens for a client. Blues is a tough color to find in blooms and thus, this is one of the blues available. It doesn’t drop its flowers nor require deadheading, which was a bonus. And no insect issues encountered. I only wished it was more prolific with blooms. I loved the way it looked with the other two planters, soft delicate foliage, and easy care. And as noted in my prior blog post about using these years ago, I learned the blooms close during cloudy conditions and or in the evenings, as you can see in this photo below.

But what you may also see is all the plants were extremely full, lush, and healthy all the way into early fall as shown in the photo above. You can even see a bloom that formed on the Lamb’s Ears on the far right. It was a shame to take all the plants out when I replanted for the fall season, but at the same time, it was a pleasure to know this combination performed well. The perennials may be salvaged at the end of the season by replanting them in your landscape beds. See more photos below. And, thank you for visiting my blog!

Cathy Testa
Container Garden Designer
See also:
www.WorkshopsCT.com
www.ContainerGardensCT.com
http://www.ContainerCrazyCT.com
Located in Broad Brook section of E. Windsor, CT
860-977-9473
containercathy at gmail.com