container gardens

Want to design some beautiful container gardens? Check out the latest how-to videos “How to Grow Tropicanna^® in Containers” and “Flower Carpet^® Roses in Containers” by Dave Epstein of Growing Wisdom.com.

You can go directly to the Growing Wisdom website, or you can see them on such other web sites as YouTube, 5min.com, mefeedia.com, www.metacafe.com, howcast.com, viddler.com and blinkx.com.

“In containers, you want a thriller, a filler and a spiller,” says Epstein in the Tropicanna cannas video. “And our Tropicannas, of course, are the thriller.” He then uses the rainbow-striped foliage of the original Tropicanna canna and the gold-striped leaves of Tropicanna Gold to create stunning container designs – even without flowers.

Those who do want flowers in their containers, however, can use Flower Carpet roses, says Epstein. “I can put one Flower Carpet rose in the container and eventually it will fill the entire container. And that’s one perfectly great choice …” Or, as he demonstrates, you can use Flower Carpet’s compact, low-growing roses as just one element – or even the centerpiece – of a great design.

In his canna container designs, he paired the original, rainbow-leaved Tropicanna cannas with small yellow zinnias and the green-and-gold-striped leaves of Tropicanna Gold (both as a vertical, showy background) with purple and yellow foliage and/or blooms like plum-black heuchera (coral bells), purple petunias and helichrysm petiolare 'Limelight.'

I also love this great container recipe using Tropicanna cannas featured in Garden Gate magazine's 2010 edition of its annual "Great Plant Combos" feature: Tropicanna canna original with caladium (large, hot-pink, heart-shaped leaves), Mexican sunflower (orange blooms) and coleus 'Buttercup' (subbing in, if you wish, Joseph's coat and/or flowering maple).

My personal favorite, however, is Tropicanna^® Black - and good news, gardeners! Huge supplies of this purple-black leaved favorite are now available for the 2011 gardening season. I chose to plant it in a container with Tropicanna gold and purple oranmental kale. (a combination that'll transition well into fall). Remember: that gold/lime/purple color combo just can't be beat!

Flower Carpet roses' unique, low-growing habit, meanwhile, is more ideally suited to container gardens than other easy-care shrub or landscape roses. Here are just a few design ideas. And don't forget to check out all the care and cultural information in Dave's videos!

Have a great container combination using roses or cannas? Post a comment, and share it with me!

Happy New Year!

And happy National Mailorder Gardening Month (at least according to the Mailorder Gardening Association, which offers great information on gardening by mail).

Check out the catalogs

That’s right. Those mailorder catalogs – full of the latest dramatic flowers and fantastic foliage — should be filling up your mailbox any day now. So grab your Snuggie and a cup of coffee – it’s time for a trip to Catalog Land.

Getting to these catalogs and ordering from them early is especially important if you want one of those hot, new introductions that’s in limited supply. And since this blog’s about easy-care gardening, you might also want to add to this year’s shopping list plants described as "low-maintenance," "disease resistant," "pest resistant," "easy to grow," "self-cleaning," or "drought tolerant."

Plan, dream…have fun!

While you’re at it, now’s the time to sketch new garden layouts, plan additions or renovations and play with different plant combinations for your beds and container gardens. Just get out that stack of gardening magazines and 1/4-inch graph paper or your laptop (and try the free, online Plan-A-Garden feature at BHG.com).

Keep those houseplants alive

In addition to the houseplant care tips I provided in my Dec. 15, 2009 post on December garden chores, you’re going to want to think about increasing the humidity. “A lot of plants will benefit just from a misting – once a day, or once every other day,” says Dave Epstein, founder of GrowingWisdom, an online video website for homeowner-gardeners and landscape professionals. “It creates a miniature, more humid environment around it – kind of like a microclimate.”

Schedule tree service

“If you have a tree that’s dead, this is a great time of year to have it removed,” says Epstein. “Contact an aborist, since this is a slow time of year for them. Plus, your ground is probably frozen, so they can bring big equipment onto your lawn without doing any damage.”

Another reason to call them now is to set up a spring health maintenance program for your trees.

Regional roundup

If you live in a wamer climate, check out the fantastic, region-specific "Gardening To Do List - January in the Garden" post by About.com gardening guide Marie Iannotti. And wherever you live, she adds, don’t forget to feed the birds and provide them with fresh, unfrozen water.