Container Gardening Workshops in Broad Brook, CT – In Three Weeks!

2 Comments

Posted on April 29, 2015

Container Gardening Workshops

Do you dream of lush, full, flower abundant container gardens on your patio, deck, surrounding your pool, or gracing the front steps of your home?

If yes, then Container Crazy CT’s Container Gardening Workshops are for you!

Cathy T with plants for a workshop

Learn from a professional designer about the steps for success in designing and maintaining beautiful container gardens and patio pots at this workshop and take home your creations.

This is a fun hands-on event that everyone will find informational and convenient. So popular in fact, each May, it fills up quickly – so don’t delay – fill out the Contact Form below to sign up.

Last year’s Class Group

Dates

Saturday, May 16th, 11 am to 2:00 pm
– or –
Saturday, May 23rd, 11 am to 2:00 pm

Water Droplets on Leaves – Different colors and textures

Workshop Details

Many plants will be available at the workshop held in Broad Brook, Connecticut for you to select from. Cathy T of Container Crazy CT uses reputable nurseries and local growers that offer quality plants, plus she has an eye for selecting ‘wow’ plants suited for stunning color and textural combinations.

The design process demonstrated during this event will be based on a theme of using ‘powerful perennials’ and ‘showy tropical plants’ this year. A large variety of perennials and tropical plants will be available for purchase and each attendee will be provided with detailed instructions and reference documentation for continued care of their plants.

The right soil mix specifically for container gardens and patio pots will be available for purchase so you don’t have to carry a thing but your beautiful container garden and patio pots ready to be filled with plant selections. And don’t worry, if your pot is too big to carry when you are done, we have delivery services available via a protected trailer.

You only need to bring yourself, a container(s) of your choice, and gardening gloves! It’s that easy.

Don’t Delay – Save Your Date Now

As noted above, you have two choices: May 16th or May 23rd.

Brugmansia tropical – Available at this Year’s Workshops

Workshop Cost

Only $15 per person + plus the cost of plants purchased at the class (and applicable sales tax).

Payment is mailed to Cathy T’s Landscape Designs to confirm your seat. Address is provided upon registration.

Note: Cancellations 4 days prior to the class dates are non-refundable, or you may send an alternate.

More Details

For more details, visit the menu’s above, or click these links below, and stay tuned.
Once registered, you receive additional details with your workshop confirmation.

May Container Gardening Workshop

Workshop Introduction

Pinboard – Shows Examples of Types of Plants at the Workshop

CONTACT FORM – TO SIGN UP

Go back

Your message has been sent

Looking forward to seeing you soon!

Cathy Testa

Cathy Testa Summer 2014

Cathy T’s Container Gardening Services – What I Do for You

5 Comments

Posted on February 19, 2015

Good morning everyone,

It always surprises me when someone isn’t aware of what I offer as part of my small business called, “Cathy T’s Landscape Designs”, and under the umbrella of, “Container Crazy CT.”

This situation just happened the other day. I was chatting with someone I’ve known for several years, and she asked if I was into banana plants?

This question was a surprise to hear because I’ve blogged about them, sold them, and especially like tropical plants.

Before I could answer, she started to tell me how she was growing some in her home for a garden club event.

As soon as I started to tell her about the big red banana plant I grew in a large planter a couple years back, she paused to listen.

This discussion reminded me of how I once told a garden center owner that many of my friends were not aware their store existed. He kind of listened but I don’t think he believe me – because they are well established.

Funny how that happens.

So, today I’m sharing what I shared at my last garden talk – some quick highlights of what I do. Hopefully you will join me this season for any of the following:

Cathy Testa

First – A little bit about my style. I tend to like showy foliage plants, and big tropical plants because they are exciting and grow fast in container gardens. I enjoy storing tropical plants over the winter months so they may be reused each season as well, so as part of my classes and talks, I often share how to do so – store tender plants.

Taking Down a big Red Banana Plant – All Steps are On my Blog!!

Storing tender plants (or tropical plants) is something I enjoy. On my blog — this blog, you will find prior posts which show how I do this – The photo above, from a prior blog post, shows me holding a 7 foot long leaf of a red banana plant (Ensete) and the trunk after it was chopped down following an October frost two years ago. It was amazing how this plant grew that particular year in a very large cement planter.

As you can see, in these two photos above – the red banana plant grew to about 12′ – 14′ feet tall! I was so in love with how lush and tropical it looked, I kept taking photos of it. So, my style is kind of like that above; I like to create outdoor oasis like places in my surroundings, where you escape to a feeling of the tropics. And I tend to enjoy using unusual plants, like cool looking edibles in container gardens. I spoke about edibles quite a bit last season at garden clubs and farmers markets.

Container gardening or arranging plants in patio pots is my favorite thing to do and offer as part of my services offerings. I’m a small business located in the Broad Brook section of East Windsor, CT.

Barrels in-front of Joe’s Fine Wine & Spirits by Cathy T

Store front seasonal container arrangements, such as various plants in spring, summer, and fall – and then changing them out for winter displays with fresh evergreens, and even fun off-season decor for the holidays is what I offer to local store front type businesses. This dresses up the store front, welcomes customers, and even encourages friendly communications with your visiting clients. For referrals or more information about the container garden installations, feel free to contact me or complete the Contact Form at the bottom of this blog post. Or click on Testimonials above on this blog’s menu bar.

I also offer container garden installations at homes. And for special outdoor events, such as weddings, graduations, or any type of special celebrations at your home. The container gardens filled with lush plants are available for purchase or rent. To read about my Container Garden Services, click HERE.

Consider this alternative of enhancing your outdoor space with container gardens filled with beautiful plants the next time you are throwing a special party or event. After all, container gardens are enjoyed for months to follow in season, and are long-lasting compared to other outdoor decor which is there just for the day – and never to be seen again. Containers make wonderful gifts and decor for events. For more information, contact me or fill out the Contact Form at the bottom of this blog. It is important to plan early and in advance for special events.

Fun gatherings where attendees learn hands-on is another service offering by my business. It started with offering classes in the winter months, and transitioned to workshops on container gardening and other classes related to combining Nature with Art. Last fall, we had a special guest speaker come in to teach us how to make hypertufa pots, and this spring, we will be making eclectic windchimes. The topics vary but they all focus on combining nature with art. The 2015 class schedule is posted above – via the menu bars – on this blog. Click on CALENDAR to see the upcoming events by month.

First on the 2015 list is an April class on making eclectic windchimes. And every May, a Container Garden Workshop is offered. This year’s theme is, “Powerful Perennials in Container Gardens.” To see the complete class listings, please click on the menu bars of this blog and look over the drop down menus by month. Sign up is via the contact forms on the blog pages.

The workshops are held in Broad Brook, CT. They are convenient, educational, and a great way to network with other gardening friends. But most of all, they are fun! Last year, we held two sessions on Miniature Gardens with special guest speaker, Rondi Niles of Gardening Inspirations – it was held twice because everyone enjoyed them. This year, the Container Garden Workshops will be held twice as well. I hope you will join us and share the events with your gardening friends.

In the warm season months, classes are held outdoors. During the winter, inside a classroom. Every December, I offer a class on working with evergreen plants to create amazing holiday decor, such as evergreen kissing balls, wreaths, and candle centerpieces. It fills up fast and is an event everyone enjoys as well – organizing groups is one of my passions – and is a great way to network and meet new gardening friends, or those who enjoy creating and making items for their home’s outdoor surroundings.

And last year, a new activity was added to the Cathy T’s offerings – Walk and Talk Home Gardens tours – Very informal, fun, and the hosts are homeowners willing to share what they have done in their gardens – with the rule that there “are no rules!” It can be informal, messy, or amazing – it is a way to share and learn from each other. Last year, we toured a pond garden in Enfield, an urban veggie garden in Wethersfield, and a sunny hillside garden in East Granby.

The Walk and Talk Home Garden Tours for 2015 are underway. We have two lined up so far for 2015. Again, see the menu bar with drop down menus of all the activity. If you are interested in sharing your home garden, please reach out – it is a great way to exchange gardening tips, meet new gardening friends, and share what you know, how you have created a garden in your special spaces, and it doesn’t matter if your garden is big or small, perfect or imperfect – we want to hear from you! To contact me about a tour, e-mail containercathy@gmail.com or fill out the Contact Form at the end of this post.

So there you have it – in a nutshell: Container Garden installs for homes, businesses, and special events. Lots of nature and plant related classes which are all DIY and include taking home your creation – and educational! And Garden Talks at Garden Clubs, appearances at farmers markets (Ellington and East Windsor again in 2015), Garden Tours at People’s Homes, and more.

My business is based on 8+ years of growing from my inspiration and passion of plants and container gardens, experimentation which lead to knowledge and taking courses over the years, and knowing the right way to care for plants in container gardens and patio pots, circling back to more experience. It starts with having a passion and inspiration! Let’s meet to share the passion together.

Cathy Testa
containercathy@gmail.com
http://www.cathytesta.com
http://www.containercrazyct.com
860-977-9473

Go back

Your message has been sent

To learn more about Cathy Testa, see her BIO.

A Frosty Start to October 26th in Broad Brook, CT

2 Comments

Posted on October 27, 2013

And my plants felt it!

On the evening of October 25th, we received a drop in temperature around midnight, and it was only in the low 30’s around 6:00 am the next morning. In fact, when checking Timeanddate.com, it reported the lowest temperature at 32 °F on October 26 at 5:53 AM. That’s chilly. And my plants outdoors felt it.

Birdbath frozen with fall leaves

So when I went outside around 8:00 am yesterday morning, it did not take long for me to realize I would need to go back into the house to get a felt hat, warm gloves, and heavy wool top to do my work of the day, which was taking down my big red banana plant in my large cement planter along with various elephant ears and Canna plants.

Elephant Ears and Other Tropicals Curled up

All of my tropical plants remaining outdoors were drooping downwards and heaped over from the effects of getting hit by their first frost of our autumn season. And other plants had white and feathery frost patterns on their leaves.

Annual Thunbergia, a Blackberry plant, and Castor Bean

Some leaves looked as if dew had frozen in time. Tiny balls of clear ice could be seen on the undersides of the curled up leaves of elephant ears. This was the pretty side to the frost on some plants, perhaps the only pretty side. While other looked just horrible – particularly my tropical plants which can not survive below freezing temperatures.

Mojito elephant ear curled up with crystals

They were all curled up, wilted over, and turned mushy overnight. Liquid within their plant cells froze into ice crystals and ruptured. This damages and kills the top part of the plant, but the underground storage organs, such as rhizomes and corms, can be stored over the winter. Unfortunately for tropical plants, they do not have a way to protect themselves to survive frost. However, their underground storage systems go into a semi-dormant state immediately, and can be moved to a cool but above freezing location over the winter inside the home.

Seed pods of Castor Bean frozen hard

Gazing ball with Mandevilla blooms and foliage

Thus, it was definitely time for me to get the rest of my tropical plants stored for the winter season by digging up the underground storage organs or root balls and putting them away carefully. I could not put this process off any longer. It would take most of the day and I managed to get it all done.

Canna by house not as bad as others

Ipomoea, elephant ears

Written by Cathy Testa

P.S. Stay tuned. I will be sharing ‘how to’ overwinter tropical plants, but in the meantime, visit my HOW TO VIDEOS page to see some tips and tricks.

Holding an leaf and cut off top of my red banana plant.

Holding a leaf and cut off top of my red banana plant.

For a mystical and eclectic plant mix, visit Logee’s in Danielson, CT

6 Comments

Posted on June 7, 2013

Logee’s Growers, Danielson, CT

When you enter Logee’s greenhouses in Danielson, CT you may want to make sure you do not suffer from claustrophobia because there is a jungle like atmosphere in this grower’s world unlike the traditional environment of a nursery.

As you enter the first greenhouse down some rickety old steps, you have to decide, do I go left or right? And depending on what you see down the narrow corridor between plants, you may opt to take a detour.

The aisles are so lush with plantings on all sides and vines are dripping from the greenhouse ceilings above, only one person can pass through at a time. You sometimes have to take the “high road” as one employee called it by stepping up to a side connecting pathway to allow other plant enthusiasts to pass by.

In my case, a group of very gabby women were coming towards my direction up the pathway, so I took the high road and stepped up to wait for them to go by in single file. They noticed I was admiring a papaya plant, and one lady (apparently the leader of this group) commented the plant has healing powers, where you can take the plants’ leaves and wrap them around your legs to sooth wounds, or something like that. She had a bit of an accent so I wasn’t sure what exactly she said, but it was obvious her group was super charged about the abundant offerings of fruiting and fragrant tropical plants at this unique plant destination. And I was too, I couldn’t wait to adventure more.

Logee’s Greenhouse

I put the papaya plant back down, and contemplated returning to look at it again later, knowing I would have to browse the entire greenhouse and adjacent house before I would decided on the plants to take home. And it would be a tough decision. Logee’s has a large selection of many interesting plants. And you have to look carefully – as in “up, down, and all around” to make sure you don’t miss something intriguing, plus walking in there can be a little tricky. Let’s just say, it is not for the dainty feet, for there are some water spots and ruts along the way, all representing the 121 years of service this location has offered for the plant hobbyists falling into the ‘untamed’ category.

Dripping from the Ceilings

The greenhouses are permanent homes to many large, mature plants growing in and around the shelves of smaller, starter plants for sale. The mature plants growing there reminds me of plants you see in conservatories, and they give you a sense of what is to come should you buy and grow a plant available at Logee’s. For example, a Golden Trumpet with rich, dark green leaves covered one area of the ceiling and was in full bloom. There were also Clematis, Bougainvillea, Pink Power Puff, and Chinese Lantern plants suspended all around – plus many more.

Allamanda cathartica in bloom

You can feel, smell, see, and sense the history of this long-standing establishment, and the mix of plants – at least to me – represent the mix of the plant passions behind their offerings by a family with apparently as much diversity as their selections at Logee’s. As a large poster will tell you in the check out area, the founder’s son had a passion for begonias, his daughter for herbs and scented geraniums and her son’s passion for fragrant tropicals and fruiting container plants expanded Logee’s world into the full jungle it is today.

Bowiea volubilis

A comical sight to me was a big Climbing Onion situated right next to an old telephone. The plants here intermingle with the walls, equipment, and surroundings so much, it almost has an eerie feeling to it – as if the place has horticultural ghosts from the past wandering in the spaces and structure’s crevasses. If you are fortunate enough (or unfortunate depending how you look at it) to be alone in the greenhouse, you may get spooked by one of them tapping on your shoulder, but as you turn around, it will be disguised as a vine brushing up against you. Funny how they can reach out that way.

“There is something mystical about Logee’s. The mix of plants is as eclectic as the diversity of personalities I’m sure grew this place into a destination worth visiting.”

Photo by Cathy Testa

Not only has Logee’s experienced diversity from a chain of generations, it survived a hurricane, blizzard, and energy crisis. When I read the place was once heated with 50 cord of wood, I said, “wow” out loud. But somehow, I imagined how enjoyable that may be for a plant lover, perhaps for the short term. The buildings and plants housed within Logee’s have survived it all. They have a lemon tree there, a showcase of the facility, at the ripe age of 113. It’s been there almost as long as the business of 121 years. I took a picture of the massive tree and its big green lemons, but decided to not post it here – I didn’t want to give away all the treasures – for you should make the trek out there sometime if you haven’t done so already. This place has lasted a long time – one has to wonder – how many more years will we get to enjoy it? I’m sure the plants in there will last longer than some of us.

Logee’s is located at 141 North Street, Danielson, CT. Their website is www.logees.com where you can easily view their plant availability and more information, but going out to the grower’s location is something worth doing. An adjacent rural town is Pomfret which has some local artisans and quaint shops to visit along the way. Stop for some good food at “Pizza 101” at 16A Mashamoquet Road, Pomfret Center before or after your trip. They have great sandwiches, grinders, salads, and yes, pizza there. Make a day trip of it because it is a long drive from at least my location – and perhaps your’s but the country roads are enjoyable if you have the time.

My first papaya plant, ‘Red Lady’

And yes, I did buy that papaya plant I first saw when I arrived at Logee’s. The funny part about this ending is the very nice young lady at the register offered a couple Logee’s magazines to me. I grabbed three. As I sat down eating my lunch after this trip, the 2013 issue shows a Babaco Papaya (Vasconceliea x heilbornii) as their featured plant on their latest catalog cover. It is described as a superb, fruiting container plant that tolerates cool weather much better than the standard papaya. As the owners Byron Martin and Laurelynn Martin further write on the inside cover, “You can grow this delicious fruit even if you’re a northern gardener.” So I got a papaya, and they featured a papaya – not exactly the same cultivar, but its ironic, isn’t it? I ended up with a papaya – to add to my fruiting collection this year. The one that lady told me had healing powers.

Cathy Testa
Container Crazy Cathy T
http://www.cathytesta.com
860-977-9473

Can u guess what this is?

Can you guess what this plant is at Logee’s? A Pomegranate! (Oh and I bought a Megaskepasma erythrochlamys,…I got to go research that mouth full. The photo of the bloom attracted me to it.)

	Cathy Testa on Canna Lily Overwintering Rhizo…
	Sharon Dunlop on Canna Lily Overwintering Rhizo…
	Cathy Testa on Overwintering my Alocasia Plan…
	Sandy on Overwintering my Alocasia Plan…
	The Secret to Growin… on First Time Growing Pumpkins fr…

Container Crazy CT

"Combining Nature with Art and Container Gardening"

Tag Archives: tropical plants

Container Gardening Workshops in Broad Brook, CT – In Three Weeks!

Container Gardening Workshops

Dates

Saturday, May 16th, 11 am to 2:00 pm
– or –
Saturday, May 23rd, 11 am to 2:00 pm