This year I am going to go for an orange-yellow container plan starting with a croton for the focal point. Any idas for other plants to complement the croton? I would love to see you own container ideas too (photos included!)

Something I very much like as a center point in larger containers (18"+)is Jester Millet. I have never seen it in stores, but seeds can be ordered from Johnnys and other places.

It is somewhat similar to purple millet which has been around awhile, but instead of a single stalk it makes a clump of stalks. It may start out green, then go chartreuse, but before long it ends up in shades of purple.

It doesn't seem fussy about water and handles dry conditions well. It is 2-3ft tall and the base of the clump is around 8" in diameter and perhaps 18-30" spread on top.

I have grown it with marigolds, petunia, vinca, gaillardia, sweet potato vine and whatever else. It all works. The nice thing about millets is that they are at least 3 season displays, but may even last as dry stalks for much of the winter.

1) don't expect too much :)
2) 3 30gallon home made SWC's
3) 8 18gallon home made SWC's
4) 10 12x 18 traditional containers
5) 1 36"tall x 9"wide homemade strawberry tree.
6) grow it.
7) eat it.

I have a local nursery that has all the black pots I could want for free. If placed strategically, the fact that theyre black wont be an issue. This is my first year doing a garden, but I went head first into it, and enjoy every minute of it.

Anyhow,

Here is the lineup...
Peppers:
4 Red/Green Bells (2 in SWCs)
1 Yellow Bell
1 Chocolate Bell
3 Variety Bells
4 Sweet Banana (2 in SWCs)
4 Jalapeno (2 in SWCs)
4 Serrano (2 in SWCs)
4 Cayenne (2 in SWCs)
4 Habanero (2 in SWCs)

Tomatoes:
4 Cherry (2 in SWCs)
4 Beefsteak (2 in SWCs)
3 Sweet
1 Mr Stripey
3 Brandywine
3 Yellow Boy
Awaiting seed packets for:
Green Zebra
Old German
Ananas Noire
Aunt Ruby's German Cherry

2 Beans (Going to plant 2 more)
2 Okra (Going to plant 2 more)
3 Celery
4 Onions
4 Romaine
2 Spinach
4 Broccoli
4 Cauliflower
3 Watermelon
3 Cantaloupe
2 Basil
2 Cilantro
2 Oregano
2 Parsley
2 Rosemary
2 Different types of corn. (just planted yesterday).

Looking forward to homemade from scratch chili, spaghetti sauce and salsa.

I probably forgot a few things, but it's late and my mind isn't functioning properly.

I like the beautiful succulent plants you have! I am interested in knowing more about those types of plants and am wanting to plant/grow some. I was talking to my neighbor today , who lived in California, about succulent plants. She mentioned ice plant. Do you think that it would grow in Florida? I love how they look so otherworldly, so unique, so different.

A key to good succulent containers is soil that drains very well. Tapla would probably recommend his gritty mix. The soil in the container above is similar to Al's 5:1:1, but the materials are far coarser/larger than his standard bark mix.

croton, night blooming jasmine and two plants whose names I don't know. Pot is probably too crowded and may need to be split up?

the little variegated green is Serissa
the other's I'm not sure, but I think it was an iris and joseph's coat??

Redneck...I'm partial to succulents...Jades and their sports/varieties are my fav's...

Thanks for the nice pictures!!

http://www.provenwinners.com/combinations/

The second one shows very lush beautiful summer containers showcased in a novel way - relatively easy to copy without the price of ordering their product.

http://www.sideplanting.com/gallery.asp

Hope you enjoy them as much as I do. I will be taking some ideas from these 2 websites for combos this year !

Xuan

Virtually any plant can be grown in a container for at least some period of time, but some are happier under those conditions than others. You might want to ask your question on the Iris forum as folks there are very knowledgable about growing these plants under all sorts of circumstances. My experience is that bearded iris in particular are less successfully grown in containers than some other species. They need a lot of room. Have you considered raised beds and imported soils? That's often a better way of approaching poor soils/planting conditions for many plants if space is not an issue, rather than containers.

*Hides from bitter anti-blog GW members. ;-)