Last year I received one of the UP and DOWN planters that encourage putting cherry tomato plants in the top where one typically plants, then putting one in a secure hole in the bottom.

The pictures showed a delightful display of lush tomatoes producing ripe fruit on a beautiful greet plant.

WRONG.  The theory worked fine, but cherry tomatoes almost all are indeterminate.  That means they want to ramble.  In a hanger, that turns into a single swinging stem.  Eventually the new growth and tomatoes are working at the tip end of a brown, ugly ropey stem.  My last tomatoes were almost on the ground!

So, this year, I planted a purple Wandering Jew vine in the top and the bottom.  So far, so good.  The planter shares the eye bolts on the front entry of the house with another larger Wandering Jew pot and a pot of Sweet Potato Ivy Vine.  The first week, the UP and DOWN pot was right where Richard likes to take a short cut heading for the door.  He kept bumping into it as he headed for the house with the bill of his cap between his point of vision and the pot.  Until I came home to find bright orange flagging ribbon tied to the pot; long enough to show beneath the bill of his cap!

One of the hangers is in a bright morning till noon spot that also draws a lot of heat from the roof.  Pots there get to looking kind of tough.  The Sweet Potato Ivy Vine was ‘bleaching’ out.  I’ve set up a rotation plan on the three pots where each only spends a week in the ‘hot spot’.  I have to do some planning for moving because the UP and DOWN pot can’t be set on it’s bottom. I think the purple/silver/green striped vine will work beautifully in the double approach as they are good about curling up around their environment.

I miss hollyhocks.  We used to use the flowers as skirts for stick dolls and play with the leaves.  But it has been years since I’ve had some at a house where I live.

These plants came from Wolf Creek Nursery near Mansfield and look really strong.  I planted one last week and decided that I needed to get serious about it. So, we drove the delightful short trip (about 3 miles) to Wolf Creek Nursery where I got some more yesterday.  They have a swap meet there and had an estate auction on the grounds too.  There were puppies, chickens, turkeys, goats, CRAFTS and more on display for sale or trade.

Despite our rainy weather, the sun was shining and we actually picked up a little pink sunburn.

I plan to ‘document’ the hollyhock progress.

They are in red dirt but have their toes nested in a layer of worm castings from the worm composting bins in the basement.   They are in a sunny area just under my office window.  They aren’t supposed to be the tall ones, so I will probably have to get up and walk outside to see them.  A little exercise is good for me.

Our peonies are the very old-fashioned ones. We have three colors of pink, but not a really dark ruby one that was always a favorite at my childhood home.

The Peonies page at The Legacy Garden’s website has been updated this week.  We are working on the entire website, and at the moment, the peonies are all that are available at the Flowers portal.

When I was building and adding links to favorite nurseries, I simply drooled over the exotic peonies available at  Nature Hills Nursery Perennials

Check them out today.

A couple Boston Ferns, one which was a tough survivor from last year attracted my attention. The larger one received a major haircut and may be trimmed even closer before spring, but it carries a pretty big fluff of fronds in the beginning.

A jasmine plant, Gerbera daisy and peace lily occupy smaller pots. The jasmine and peace lily are previous winter survivors, making themselves quite comfortable inside. The Gerbera daisy is a first time and is a trial. Since we have a shelf full of other refugees from the cold, I’m going to see what can happen with this pretty daisy. The jasmine and the daisy are gifts and it would be most pleasant if I can keep them into the future.

A lush wandering jew was simply slipped with the slips dropped into a container of water. Past experience has shown me that these slips will thrive through most of the winter in their hydroponic environment, ready for planting in a post in the spring.

I haven’t had much luck getting slips of the wax begonia to take off. Finally, after looking at the 4-5 pots that just simply refuse to freeze, I clipped one of them ‘way back and brought it in for the winter. If they respond like other hothouse plants for the containers, they will expire in February no matter where I put them or how carefully I manage their water. But, it is only one pot, so I’m going to gamble that I have something to slip into small pots in the spring or divide into larger ones.

It is NOVEMBER, for cryin’ out loud. Time for the plants to take a break.

Just in case, I brought the plants I wanted to save that aren’t outdoor plants which appreciate some colder weather.

I had a really nice wandering jew vine that a neighbor was going to try to rescue.  But, when I was taking it down from the hanger, the entire mass broke off in one clump.   I have plenty of slips put back for next year.  That has been the policy for several years because I don’t have a good house place to keep it.

This year, there are a couple ferns, a daisy and a jasmine in the chilly spare room.  If company comes, the plants can go to the basement for a few days, but I hope they make it through the winter.   I overwintered one of the  Boston ferns in a place that must have been too dry last winter.  By spring, the two ferns where just a mass of brown.  One had a single frond of green, so I didn’t through it away till that one bit the dust.  The frond became two and three, then a pretty nice little fern for the summer.  When I brought it in today, there were several new little ones trying to take off along the side of the old one.

Slipping a few things for next year and letting the rest go.  It is just something that has to happen.  Marks the end of the season.  The walnuts are nearly all gathered and the jalapenos that were the star performers for the garden this year are done, done, done.

I have put out pots of wandering jew vines which get ‘rusty’ and tough looking as the spring turns to summer with heat and breezes.   These vines are pretty forgiving in the face of water neglect, but they just don’t get a chance to really shine.

I bought Boston ferns and they were promptly beaten to near death by the wind and rain.  They were my shaggy decor for the summer.  I had high hopes and buried them in leaves for the winter…this ended in chilly planticide.

So, for the past couple of years, I’ve been building some pots containing the sort of plants that LIVE here despite the climate.   The ivy was intentional, the violets were accidental, but they’ve really thrived along with the ivy and a few strands of yellow stonecrop.  Replanting this year brought them all a big serving of worm castings.  Violet leaves almost as large as my hand from violets that went to seed last year.

They were potted and placed in some hangers.  I felt pretty smart.  Then, the chains on the hangers began to get the aforementioned “chain fatigue”.  One pot DROPPED and had to be scooped back into the container.  The second one was just trying to get away when I found it.

I know I can take these pots and put them in the leaf pile at the shade garden and they will survive as they would in the wild.  And be even better next year.

The price was right too…just picked them out of the yard.

In 2009, I missed the fainters and ‘settled’ for wax begonias and vincas.  By far, the wax begonias did better in the heat, blooming, thriving and making a nice show all summer.

In 2010, I didn’t even shop for anything else.  Well, that’s not exactly true, I did pick up a couple white geraniums, but they succumbed to the pressure of a volunteer jalapeno pepper in the container and didn’t last the summer.  The all time favorites were the white blooming wax begonias.  They held up in large pots, medium pots (not so well in small pots) and in concrete-around-the-corner pots that sometimes were hurting for water.

We’re now in the midst of an autumn dry spell and the wax begonias haven’t been watered for almost 2 weeks.  They seem to thrive on the dew.  Boy, I need tough plants like that.

Bold Gold and Bold Blue Beauty

I have a red/rust colored house,  lots of fire in the color, which leads me to usually choose white for my pots.  But that dark gold color waved its flag at me and convinced me the marigolds would be just right in team with a few white, wax begonias who are going to parade in a concrete pot that gets HARD sun.

I couldn’t figure out the resource for the plants, but I like their style.  The little box is supposed to have eight and there were ten because a couple littler plants survived.  The set wasn’t crippled by the little separate sections that have been popular for 20 years at garden centers.    I had to STIMULATE the roots to get them apart.   This is the same resource that sold the wax begonias.  I was already impressed, now even more so.

The ten plants were too many for the concrete container, but a generous line will background the begonias.   The remainder will make a vigorous pot of gold to decorate another corner.  Plus,  these had siblings.  If those containers don’t hear what happened to the early adoptees, I may be able to secure some more.  In this economy,  many gold marigolds can’t be a really bad investment!

BUT, do I want the tall, spindly sentries?  One flower, glow, fade, dry, all in a row?  No, this setting will take some height, but I want more flowers at once from a well fed root system  (They’re snacking on worm castings as I write.)

After letting them glow overnight because they are so beautiful,  out  came the scissors and off came their little golden blooms.

Now, in an effort to insure survival, they will put forth root and extra branches.   Each branch or stem is a source for a golden head.  IF this works, I should have a great pot of golden marigolds gracing the white wax begonias.

In worst case, I do have a picture.   Thank goodness for digital tools to preserve a view for the future of things that fade in the garden.

Now, to tell them over at the other Garden