Fall Container Candidates
Posted in Gardening Tips on October 18 2011, by Sonia Uyterhoeven
We are celebrating the fall this year with Fall Flowers of Japan in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. As you walk into the Conservatory you are greeted by color, ranging from the blues and purples of gentians, to the autumnal bronzes, yellows, and reds of chrysanthemums.
Texture and form abound; the orchid-like flowers of toad lilies (Tricyrtis) are speckled, Japanese anemones (Anemone) feature cup-shaped flowers and fuzzy seed heads, and Japanese burnet (Sanguisorba) provide height with their burgundy bottle brush spires.
For the opening weekend I conducted a demonstration on how to recreate a little piece of Fall Flowers of Japan at home in the form of a fall container display or border. Today I am going to share some of my favorite plants for making a display of this nature with you.
Shop in the Garden is selling a new line of dwarf Japanese anemones from Blooms of Bressingham. These dwarf Japanese anemones reach only two feet in height and are ideal for either the front of a border or a container. Unlike other Japanese anemones that have a propensity to spread on runners, these dwarfs are more restrained. They thrive in part shade and can also handle a good deal of sun, so long as they are not allowed to dry out. These anemones are hardy from zone 4 to 9 and are seldom eaten by deer.
This line of anemones features four new varieties with ‘Pretty Lady’ in their name; ‘Pretty Lady Diana’, ‘Pretty Lady Susan’, ‘Pretty Lady Emily,’ and ‘Pretty Lady Julia’. The first two are single flowering in light and dark pink, and the latter two are double flowering in light and dark. The dwarf Japanese anemones can be partnered with a dwarf fountain grass such as Pennisetum ‘Little Bunny’. ‘Little Bunny’ grows from 1 to 1 1/2 feet tall and is hardy from zone 5 to 9. Like all fountain grass it has wonderful ornamental inflorescences that are excellent for floral arranging and drying.
Another diminutive version of a classic is a stonecrop called Sedum ‘Abbeydore’. This sedum is ideal for the front of a border or a container. It reaches 18 inches tall forming a compact mound. It has blue green foliage and bright pink flowers that turn a reddish color as they mature.
A final container candidate for fall displays is the well-known sedge, Carex morrowii ‘Ice Dance’. This sedge is hardy from zone 5 to 9 and grows 12 plus inches tall. It thrives in part shade and can handle full shade. You can also plant this sedge in full sun, but its wonderful variegation will not be as intense. It likes moderate to moist soils, but once established can handle some drought.
Carex ‘Ice Dance’ performs beautifully in a container, brightens up a shady corner, and also acts as a wonderful ground cover. It has a clumping habit that slowly spreads by rhizomes. We have a shady slope in the Garden that kept getting washed out during heavy rain storms. Last year we planted the slope with this sedge and it is filling in beautifully. ‘Ice Dance’ is semi-evergreen in this area and I go out early in the spring and cut it back into a nice mounding form before the fresh new growth fills in. If I run out of time or forget to cut it back, it is pretty forgiving.
Next week, I will give you some more ideas for your fall containers or the front borders of your garden with some new cultivars of some stalwarts of the garden.
