Containers

How lovely Melchi, they are great. And I did enjoy the little tortoise! I have some plastic urns left over from another era too, but one by one they are going brittle now and the rims are cracking. Good for another year yet though I think.

Thanks, Steragram. I have a few tortoises - some of them are very realistic! I am lucky that those particular urns have weathered well so far (!)

Its a great idea to have plants in pots. Because of all the publicity about lily beetles I decided to put some new cheap bulbs I bought in pots, in the hope that if they were harbouring anything suspicious I would see it. They are sitting on my potting bench at the back door. They have grown well and will flower soon I think. They will cheer up the Kniphofia border as those flowers are cut and in the compost bin. Depending on their colour I might plant them in the ground. Your pond is looking very good and is that fish I can see. Your herb pots are great. I do like the fennel. I planted my bay tree in the ground and thought I might lose it because the bark started peeling at the base but it is still growing strongly. I planted bedding begonia corms in my long troughs last year and forgot to take them in over the winter. They are trailing ones and have started growing again. The weather is certainly changing or going through a mild spell which has lasted for a couple of years now.

love them, they look so bright and cheerful. :O) I especially like your little ladder arrangements, I have always wanted a wooden ladder just finding one that is the right height, shall have to visit a car boot sale me thinks. :O) Well done on the display it looks great. :O)

You have a lovely selection of pots and plants ... like you I have some Tortoises around the garden ... none of them real though!

Thank you, Scotsgran - there are no fish in the barrel(!) Perhaps it's the oxygenating plants you can see, or - more likely - the brick I've put in there. The bigger birds stand on it when they are bathing, whereas the small ones perch on the weed. The fennel you can see has self-seeded from the huge plant I have in the herb bed. I love it. It doesn't taste quite so good once it has flowered, but I think the flowers look good and, of course, all the herbs seem to attract insects so I leave them. I do save the seeds - they can be ground up and used as a spice, quite mild. I have had so many surprising things last through the winter that I have stopped being surprised, if you know what I mean!

Thanks Barbara! The ladders with the Busies were made by my f-i-l over 50 years ago. We stopped using them years ago as they were so heavy, but they do good duty as a home for pots. The other ladders also belonged to my in-laws. They were unbelievably heavy (we are so used to aluminium now) so OH cut them up. The lower front part is against the shed wall (you can just see the top of them in the 6th pic) and the top bit is the blue painted part. They do make very good display "furniture"!

Thanks, Shirley! We had a tortoise in the garden when I was a little girl. I don't know how my parents expected it to survive, really, but it did, for a few years. It used to hibernate in a straw-filled box in the garage. They are very expensive now, rightly so - they need special conditions. I love the resin varieties, though!

Your containers are very colourful. I enjoy growing things in containers too.
I like those little step ladders you've got :) They're cute :D

Thanks, Hywel - I am fond of them.

We also had a Tortoise when we were small, called Jet of all things! A friend has one called Harley ... silly how we name them with ironic names! :o)

Yes! Ours was a very unimaginative "Toby"!

We named a clay pirate made by my daughter "Horror" and her toy cat "Tread", but that only makes sense if you know "Pirates of Penzance" (and if you're very, very sad!)

Your containers all look lovely and very healthy.....great pics. I like to put mine in groups too, looks more natural that way doesn't it.

So colourful, love your containers!

It is evident, you can’t resist summer containers :-)

Thank you, Cosmosjane, I think so.

Hi Louisa - I hope you are well. I'm glad you like the containers. I've just been watering them all - it takes a while, but it's worth it.

Lol, Katarina!

I'm with you - I love making up containers and have great fun deciding what to put with what!

You have some beautiful displays in your garden and the idea of using annuals is a very good one......as long as I can persuade the little seeds to grow for me !!!

Thanks, Wildrose.

I buy trays of young plants. I do grow some plants from seed, but it's not my greatest skill!

I grew 40 cosmos from seed this year (not for containers). They were lovely young plants, about 6" high and bushy. I gave some to my neighbour, some to my sister and planted the rest out. All but four of them were eaten down to leafless stems within two days! Ah well. Next year, they'll be huge before I dare to plant them out! It didn't happen last year. The slugs and snails in my garden have been voracious this year. My sister has just sent me photos of the ones I gave her. They are beautiful!

Lovely blog Melchi, your ferns are fantastic. I like the rustic stepladder being used as a plant stand, Nice Pelargoniums and Snapdragons in other pics. Well done .

Thank you very much, Outlander :-)

A gardener after my own heart.I find containers so versatile.I have 40+ with annuals,bulbs,conifers,box,hebes hostas,dahlias,geraniums,primulas,which enable me to have colour in the garden all year round.When one lot go over there is something else ready to take its place, I certainly need my 5 water butts,lovely collection,kerryvw.

Thank you, Kerry. I would not be without my pots and troughs - so versatile, and so good for providing loads of colour.

Thank you, Hb!

Sadly, the bluer step ladders have recently fallen to pieces. They finally rotted away. They were pretty old, and not intended for outdoor living! I still have the lower part of the steps leaning against the shed wall, where they are more sheltered from the weather. They did well really.

I agree about the annuals. They brighten everything up, and it's sometimes surprising how many survive for a second year.