Today is March 17, 2018, and I see plants are coming up on my patio. I’m excited about the new growth in the containers already.
Above is sedum autumn joy, one of the plants already a fairly good size on my patio.
Autumn Joy’ is a stout, spreading plant with succulent foliage that pairs well with ornamental grasses. Plus it looks great against the deep-green leaves of summer perennials.
Autumn Joy is easy to care for, very adaptable, and a popular stand-in for shrubs. This sedum lasts and lasts when other plants begin to wane.
Mint Is Coming Up On My Patio:
When green starts coming up in the pots, I know spring isn’t far behind. The mint has come back from last year. But then mint is pretty hardy.
In plants emerging on my patio, creeping jenny has come up in quite a few pots. I love this plant because it is considered a “spiller.” In a container plant, you typically want a thriller, a filler, and a spiller.
A thriller is a feature plant such as fountain grass. A filler is a plant that spreads out and fills the pot like petunia or daisies. And a spiller spills over the edge.
These three types of plants create a striking container garden.
Various sedums are coming up in the other pots and in my big piece of driftwood. And I’ve been seeing very small plants that I’m hoping are Black-eyed Susans and coneflower.
My Clematis Vine Is Looking Very Healthy:
This is my clematis plant below. I planted this vine a few years ago and it comes back nicely each year. It has white flowers when it blooms.
A few hostas are now emerging from the soil in the blue raised garden.
I’m thinking about plants to fill in the containers and maybe planting a few more vines. I think I’d like passion vine and morning glory.
Perhaps I’ll get fountain grass because I love the texture for background interest. I love to have ornamental grasses in my garden because of the tall stature. It is nice to have a background for the shorter plants in front of it.
Herbs Are Now Coming Up:
For annuals I want to grow petunias, verbena and daisies to fill in around the perennials.
I always plant herbs in pots on my patio. On my list are pineapple sage and lemon verbena. Those two are my favorite herbs but I always plant many.
My chives didn’t freeze, so I already have fresh chives for baked potatoes. In terms of herbs, I’ll probably plant oregano, lemon grass and salvia.
I will probably plant a few vegetables. At least one tomato plant. Maybe cucumber and peppers.
The tree named Jade is showing tiny green nubs on her branches, which is exciting!
So that’s what’s going on on my patio. What’s happening in your garden?
What a perfect subject today, as I was going thru my library-book-sale book titled “The Gardening Book for Ohio”. I’m trying to decide on ground cover, perennials and a few annuals to create my flower garden. Spring is just around the corner!
You are so lucky that you are experiencing the thrill of seeing everything come back already! Not much here in IL…just lilies and daffodils starting to poke out of the ground, and I did see some buds on my lilac bush yesterday. Next month will be when everything starts exploding around here. Can’t wait!
I can’t see a darn thing as everything is still covered by snow!! You are so lucky to see green sprouting up from last year!!
Still snow covered.
My chives are are 10-12 inches tall. Multiple buds on my rose bushes with one bud already open. So exciting to see. I just hope a cold spell doesn’t come.