The outdoor terraces and stone ledges around my Winter House are filled with potted plants.
This time of year, I always display a variety of warm weather specimens around my home. These tropical plants are usually kept inside my greenhouses where they can be properly maintained, but it's nice to see them outdoors in beautiful ornamental urns during spring and summer. Last week, my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, filled a collection of pots outside my carport. Some of the smaller ones were planted with calla lilies, wild ginger, alocasias, and ferns.
Here are some photos.
Before potting anything, Ryan places the plants in their designated spots and positions them in the order that looks best. He selects plants that not only fit the containers but also look good grouped together.
Each of these ornamental urns has a drainage hole. It is important to make sure any planter has at least one. Plants will only draw up as much water as they require. Drainage holes serve allow excess water to ‘drain’ out, thus helping to prevent the soil from becoming soggy and causing root rot.
Ryan places a layer of weed cloth in the bottom of this urn to protect the vessel itself. This will also make it easier to remove the plant next autumn, when it is put back in the greenhouse for the cold season.
Here, Ryan pots up a calla lily, which will flower from early to late summer.
The plant is potted at the same depth it was in its plastic container. Ryan uses compost that was made right here at the farm.
Calla lilies have smooth, sword-like foliage that looks neat and attractive all season long. This plant fits just right in this container.
And don’t forget to feed – I always say, if you eat, so should your plants. Ryan adds a sprinkling of Osmocote – an all-in-one plant solution containing essential nutrients and a unique resin that controls nutritional release.
In this pot, Ryan drops a scoop of compost first to weigh down the weed cloth.
Then he cuts the cloth to fit – just big enough to line the vessel’s interior but not drape over the sides.
Here he pots up a bird’s nest fern to match the four others that share this ledge.
The bird’s nest fern, Asplenium nidus, is an interesting plant with long, erect, spoon-shaped, bright green fronds that rise from a central rosette.
Here’s a close look at the frond of a crocodile fern, sometimes known as an alligator fern native to Australia. The fern gets its name from the scale like appearance of its leaves.
Also on this ledge, an alocasia, known for the distinctive and stunning broad arrowhead-shaped, textured leaves.
Next – wild ginger. Ryan carefully removes it from its pot. We always save these plastic pots for storing plants during the off season and for potting seedlings and bare root cuttings – nothing gets wasted here at the farm.
Before potting up the plant, Ryan makes sure to loosen the root ball. Loosening, also known as teasing or tickling, the roots before planting stimulates the roots and helps it form a good foundation.
He top dresses every pot with some mulch – also made right here at my farm.
Wild ginger has large, heart-shaped, deciduous dark green leaves – some varieties with silvery white markings.
And every pot also gets lifted off the ledge with wood shims, so water can drain properly.
We make our own shims from extra pieces of wood and use them over and over again.
Finally, Ryan uses our battery powered handheld blower from STIHL to clean the ledge of any dirt and soil. This blower is less noisy and perfect for around my Winter House.
Using potted plants to decorate the outside of one’s home can totally transform a space. These plants will thrive in this location. What did you plant over the weekend? Share your comments with me below.
Planting continues in front of my Winter House carport - this time, with four bird's nest ferns.
A couple of years ago, my friend and owner of Luppino Landscaping and Masonry LLC, Carmine Luppino, gifted me with four beautiful antique ornamental urns. They look so beautiful on the stone wall outside my carport. This week my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, potted them up with bird's nest ferns, Asplenium nidus - those interesting plants with long, erect, spoon-shaped, bright green fronds that rise from a central rosette. I try to vary the plantings in my outdoor containers every year - these ferns were just perfect for the vessels.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
These containers look great sitting on this low stone wall leading up to my carport. Each of the four round lead antique planters is decorated with cheerful repeating sunbursts. The sunburst is actually an ancient pagan symbol. It is mostly seen as an ornamental motif, carved, painted or inlaid, with straight or jagged rays radiating from the center.
Each container is about two feet in diameter and about 18 to 20 inches high. Each vessel also has drainage holes at the bottom.
Ryan went down to one of my tropical hoop houses to select the bird’s nest ferns that would work best in the planters. They had to fit the containers and be pretty similar in size.
The bird’s nest fern is so named because the center of the plant resembles a bird’s nest. It is also occasionally called a crow’s nest fern. Here, one can see the new fronds growing from the center rosette.
On the undersides of mature bird’s nest fern fronds are these brown lines. These are harvest spores.
Back at the carport, Ryan places the ferns in the pots for planting. He also turns them, so the best side of each plant faces the carriage road.
To protect the fragile pots, I like to line them with black weed cloth or black garbage bags. Ryan places a big sheet of the plastic into the pot…
… and then cuts it to size. This plastic will later be tucked into the pot, so it is not visible.
Ryan pokes holes in the plastic over the holes in the container for good drainage.
Next he fills the bottom of the planter with soil mix. We’re using nutrient-rich compost made right here at the farm.
Meanwhile, these ferns are ready for slightly larger containers, so Ryan puts soil into these plastic pots. He sprinkles a generous amount of Osmocote fertilizer and mixes it well. The prills coat a core of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The resin-coating is made from linseed oil and as the plant’s root system takes-up nutrition from the soil, it also takes up the needed nutrients from the Osmocote.
Ryan then removes the fern from its old plastic pot and gives it a quick inspection. The root ball is quite moist – it is a sign of good maintenance and watering.
Repotting is a good time to check any plant for damaged, unwanted or rotting leaves or pests that may be hiding in the soil. Ryan scarifies the root ball just a bit to encourage new growth and places it into its new container.
Next, Ryan backfills with more soil. Bird’s nest ferns do well with watering about once a week. To be sure, one should feel the top few inches of soil. If the top two-inches are dry then the plant needs water. Below the top few inches should remain moist, but not soggy. And it should never dry out thoroughly between waterings.
Once a plant is in its new plastic pot, Ryan places the pot into the container to ensure it is at the proper height – it should be positioned at the same height it was in its original pot. Planting the pot inside the container makes it easier come fall – the pot can just be removed with the plant intact.
He backfills the ornamental planter up to just under the rim, so when it is watered, it does not overflow with soil falling out.
Lastly, Ryan top dresses the pot with some mulch and taps down of the soil lightly to ensure there is good contact with the plant.
Even when grown in optimal conditions bird’s nest ferns grow slowly, only about two to six inches per year. Fronds eventually reach a maximum size of about three feet long, with plant diameter maxing out at about three feet wide.
Here is a top view of the four potted bird’s nest ferns – these will receive medium to bright indirect light. These plants do not do too well in direct light as it will burn its fronds.
These ferns sit under the light shade of my catalpa trees, or cigar trees, Catalpa speciosa, named because of its long cigar-like seed pods. The ferns will do wonderfully here until they are removed from the pots and returned to their designated greenhouses for the next cold season.
It's always a joy to see beautiful potted plants displayed around the farm during the warm season.
Every year, I take out many of my outdoor ornamental urns and fill them with plants. They do so well outside in the summer months and look great arranged around my home. This week, my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, planted the troughs in front of my carport with various hens and chicks - those charming mat-forming succulents with fleshy pointed leaves arranged in rosettes. These plants are among the first I see when I walk out of the house and some of the last I see when I return.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Hens and chicks are members of the Sempervivum group of succulent plants. They are also known as houseleeks. Hens and chicks are so called because of the rosette shape and habit of the plant to produce numerous babies.
Before planting, Phurba and Ryan carefully remove the existing plants from the troughs. These similar succulents have been in these planters for some time and were due to be changed.
Most of these plants are varieties of Echeveria and Sansevieria. They are loaded into the back of our Polaris vehicle and will be taken to my main greenhouse for repotting.
The trough is filled with a good quality potting soil. Using a proper soil mix will help to promote faster root growth and give quick anchorage to young roots. Fertilizer is also added to the soil.
Osmocote prills contain a core of nutrients including nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. As the plant’s root system takes-up nutrition from the soil, it also takes up the needed nutrients from the Osmocote.
Ryan sorts the hens and chicks by variety, so they can be planted in like groupings.
This is Semervivum ‘Twilight Blues.’ This variety features silvery, olive-green leaves shaded in pale lavender and purple tips. Hens and chicks need lots of outdoor sunlight to show their best colors and maintain their rosette forms.
This is called Sempervivum ‘Grammens’ – a pretty pink to orange shade with dark plum tips. ‘Grammens’ is a giant rosette which turns a deep purple in winter.
Sempervivum ‘Larissa’ has smooth, waxy leaves of light green rosettes that open to a light coral color. Here, one can see the parent rosette, or the “hen” and the smaller baby rosettes which are the “chicks.”
And this is Sempervivum ‘Mount Usher’ – a cultivar that shifts between silver-green, pink, and purple through the seasons. Hens and chicks belong to the flowering plant family Crassulaceae, native to southern Europe and northern Africa. They are low-growing perennials that stay close to the ground to self-propagate.
Ryan carefully removes the plant from its pot and places it into the planter soil at the same depth it was in its original container.
All the plants are spaced evenly in the trough. This planter is long enough to accommodate five plants each.
These drought-tolerant plants need very little water once they’re mature and can go weeks without watering. Once established, water them only when the surrounding soil dries out.
Once planted, Ryan lightly tamps on the surrounding soil to establish good contact.
Small wooden shims are used to lift all the planters off the ledge. This is very important for good drainage. All the pots around the farm are always raised. We save any usable pieces of wood from year to year for this purpose.
Next, Ryan uses this battery powered handheld blower from STIHL to clean the ledge of any dirt and soil. This blower is less noisy and perfect for around my Winter House.
The troughs are now filled with these charming hens and chicks succulents. They will stay here through the gardening season.
Once a hen plant produces a chick, that chick will begin producing its own babies after only one season.
Do you remember this planter of hens and chicks? I planted it several weeks ago on the Today Show. The plants filled out nicely in this container.
My trough planters sit on the stone ledge in front of my beautiful white garden. These plants will thrive here all season long where they will get ample sun and light shade. Everything is looking so lush and green this spring.
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