Back in late May I shared this year’s container gardening action on our back deck. Several friends and family have asked how it’s all going, so here’s an early July update.
My flower-box theme features orange-red florescent geraniums, with white and powder-blue bacopa. They’ve filled in nicely, with the geraniums aggressively sprouting new flowers every day. The bacopa plants have embraced the geraniums, while extending and trailing their delicate little branches and flowers all around the sides of the boxes. They will look very nice by late summer.
My verbena, basil, thyme, oregano and parsley plants all are doing well, and have provided flavoring for dozens of meals and beverages already (see my sun tea recipe). I moved my lemon balm and spearmint plants from containers to the ground in the far backyard; they are producing well, and I trim them occasionally to harvest their leaves and keep them under control. The dill and coriander plants have disappointed, as they’ve wanted to do nothing but flower and seed from day one.
My mom’s purple petunias struggled during the heavy rains in early June, but the surviving ones (about half of them) have filled out nicely.
Lastly, my mom planted sunflower seeds with the kids in early May, and moved the seedlings into the ground in early June (with a cage to protect them from rabbits). They’ve yet to flower, but now stand between three and four feet tall.
Here is a slideshow with updates from our container garden:
Stay tuned for an August update.