I love beautiful ornamental urns filled with lush, green plants.
As many of you may know, I have a rather sizable collection of tropical specimens at my Bedford, New York farm. During the winter, they’re all stored in my greenhouses. Once warm weather arrives, they are brought out for display. A number of them are potted up in spring and placed in various locations here at Cantitoe Corners, especially around my Winter House. And through the summer, they flourish outdoors where they can be enjoyed by me and all those who visit.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
The plants I display are brought out of the greenhouse and potted up in pretty ornamental urns of all sizes. My head gardener, Ryan McCallister, and I make these displays different and interesting. And these plants grow and thrive all summer long.
Some of the potted plants are paired with contrasting trailing specimens to give them more texture such as this spider agave underplanted with Helichrysum petiolare.
Agaves are so beautiful – I have many of them. If you also like agaves, be sure to keep them in low traffic areas, as their spikes can be very painful.
Here on a table outside my Winter House, I placed agaves and small ponytail palms together. The urns are just as interesting as the plants themselves. On the far right is a small kalanchoe.
In May, Ryan selects the plants from the greenhouse. He considers variety, size, development, light exposure needs, and then he decides the urn and the plant’s placement.
Beaucarnea recurvata, the elephant’s foot or ponytail palm, is a species of plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to the states of Tamaulipas, Veracruz and San Luis Potosí in eastern Mexico. Despite its common name, it is not closely related to the true palms. In fact, it is a member of the Agave family and is actually a succulent. It has a bulbous trunk, which is used to store water, and its long, hair-like leaves that grow from the top of the trunk like a ponytail, giving the plant its renowned name.
Every urn has a drainage hole at the bottom. Here, 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.
Remember, whenever transplanting always scarify the root ball, meaning tease or loosen the roots, so they are stimulated before planting. This will help the plant form a good foundation in the pot.
Ryan uses his hori hori knife to also give the bottom a scarifying trim.
And then he places the palm into the pot. Select urns that are the proper size for the plant, so it has room to grow during the season.
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. And he also adds a sprinkling of Osmocote fertilizer. Osmocote contains 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.
This ponytail palm is perfect in this location where it gets bright light during the day, but also protection from direct light, so its long, leathery green leaves do not burn.
Here is another agave Ryan potted up last May in this faux bois container.
After he backfills with soil, he tamps down lightly to ensure good connection between the plant and the soil.
Two months later, this plant is looking so bold green and lush. The recent rains have also kept the plant quite clean.
And remember the hens and chicks we planted in the troughs this spring? 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.
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.
Here they are now – growing so beautifully. One can hardly see the soil around them.
All the hens and chicks are thriving. 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.
If you decide to display some plants outside your home, be sure to check them regularly. Weed them if needed, and don’t forget to water them if the soil is dry. Potted plants in pretty outdoor containers are a very good thing.
It’s always so much fun to watch the baby animals grow here at my Bedford, New York farm. Right now, the youngest residents include a number of turkey poults and keets, a peachick, and a chick.
I've been raising poultry and various other outdoor birds for quite some time. I love keeping chickens for their fresh, delicious eggs, but I also enjoy raising other birds and learning about the different breeds and varieties. Every year, we hatch many eggs to add to my flocks. I am fortunate to have the proper incubators and brooders where they can remain until they are big enough to go out into our "nursery" coop and yard, and then finally to the adult areas to join the others.
Enjoy these photos.
Whenever we have baby birds here at the farm, my stable manager, Helen, who is very experienced in raising chickens, sets up the brooders with bedding, feeders, and proper heating elements in our stable feed room. This turkey poult is already very alert and curious to know who is visiting.
At this stage, these keets, or baby Guinea fowl, are less than a week old and just learning to walk on their big feet and become familiar with their surroundings. Any baby fowl less than a month old, does best in temperatures around 80 to 85-degrees Fahrenheit.
Baby birds need constant monitoring until they are at least four or five weeks old. Here they are checked several times a day. This room is also free from drafts.
On the right is a week old turkey poult and on the left, a days old keet. All the babies get along well and are very social.
Raising baby turkeys is a lot like raising chickens. Both birds need good quality feed, fresh water, safe living spaces, clean bedding, adequate roosting areas, and when older, nesting boxes.
Once they are all about a couple weeks old, they move into one of my large bird cages. Here, the keets are a bit unsure of the visitors and prefer huddling together in one corner for safety.
After each move to a new enclosure, every chick is personally shown where their food and water sources are, so they know where to find it.
This youngster is very active, very curious, and very fast, even at just three weeks old. Hello, my turkey friend.
Here is one keet and one turkey. These birds can be kept together, but whenever raising large fowl, consider their mature size and give them lots of room to roam.
By nature, turkeys are docile, regal, and intelligent creatures. These two keep inching their way toward the camera.
Turkeys are also quite gentle – with each other and with all who visit. Baby turkeys love to play and are not shy when visitors enter the room.
At about five to six weeks, the keets are moved again to their first outdoor enclosure – a “nursery” coop and yard. Here is a group exploring the grassy run. It is very difficult to sex Guinea fowl at this stage. The best way to tell males from females is by their cry. When they’re older, the female Guineas will make a two-syllable call that sounds something like “buckwheat, buckwheat”. Males can only make a one-syllable sound similar to “kickkkkk kickkkkk”. The males also have larger gills or wattles.
Guinea fowl enjoy being with their own kind and will always maintain their own social groups even when integrated into the coop with the adult chickens and roosters. And do you know what a group of Guinea fowl is called? The collective noun for guinea fowl is “confusion” or “rasp.”
When young, poults should have a free-choice starter feed that is at least 28-percent protein.
Here, we have one young chicken, one young peafowl, and a keet. Notice the corona atop the peafowl’s head. Both male and female peafowl have this fan-shaped crest on their heads. It may take up to one year for a corona to reach full size.
With all this energy, these keets are already starting to perch and spread their wings. Here are three perched on the sides of their cooling tub.
These birds will stay together for a couple more weeks and then get moved down to the chicken yard to join the others.
And if well cared for, these Guinea fowl babies can live up to 15-years. Where one goes, they all go. If one gets lost it will call out until the flock comes to find it. And Guinea fowl are noisy. I can often hear them all the way from my Winter House.
These turkeys are now about seven weeks old and very outgoing. Turkeys can actually make more than 20 different noises. And, only adult male turkeys can gobble.
The Guinea fowl originated in Africa, so they are not too fond of the cold weather, but they are very hardy and can live well in nearly every climate. One Guinea fowl is the size of a large chicken and weighs about four-pounds fully grown. And do you know what a group of Guinea fowl is called? The collective noun for guinea fowl is “confusion” or “rasp.”
Right now, they are all happy youngsters enjoying the grass and outdoor weather in their enclosure.
I have several allées of trees here at my Bedford, New York farm - those beautiful and dramatic roads with a line of selected trees or large shrubs running along each side. It takes a lot of thoughtful planning to design them and a lot of effort to maintain them through the years.
Not long ago, as part of a delivery of plants from the wholesale nursery, Monrovia, I received a number of Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple' - a deciduous shrub that's also commonly known as smoke bush, smoke tree, and purple smoke tree. I love Cotinus and have many planted around my home. I have about 100 planted in an allée along the carriage road through my hayfields. This allée is also planted with a collection of London plane trees. Some of the Cotinus here had died and needed replacing. The smoke bushes from Monrovia were just perfect for this area.
Enjoy these photos.
Smoke bushes, Cotinus, are among my favorite of small trees – they have superlative color, appealing form, and look excellent in the gardens.
This allée was first planted in October of 2019. I chose to plant two rows of London plane trees – 46-trees in all. And then next to them, the smoke bushes. When selecting a location, always consider the tree’s growth pattern, space needs, and appearance.
Here is what the allée looked like the following summer. The smoke bushes grew quite a bit. Cotinus is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Anacardiaceae, closely related to the sumacs. They are a great choice for massing or for hedges. These specimens were all purchased as small whips – slender, unbranched shoots or plants. I like to nurture them for a year or two in pots before placing them in the ground – this way they are planted as bigger, stronger specimens.
And as the saying goes in gardening, “first sleep, then creep, then leap.” This is what the trees looked like in July of 2021.
Over the next year, both the London planetrees and the Cotinus filled out. This photo was taken in June of 2022.
And this is the allée now. So lush and the bold colors of the specimens look amazing together. The Cotinus can grow to a moderate size – up to 15-feet tall and 10-feet wide. I also love its upright, multi-stemmed habit.
These smoke bushes have stunning dark red-purple foliage that turns scarlet in autumn and has plume-like seed clusters, which appear after the flowers and give a long-lasting, smoky haze to the branch tips.
The leaves of smoke bushes are waxy purple and are one and a half to three inches long, and ovate in shape.
This is one of the London plane trees. This one is about 16-feet tall. The London plane tree, Platanus × acerifolia, is a deciduous tree. It is a cross between two sycamore species: Platanus occidentalis, the American sycamore, and Platanus orientalis, the Oriental plane. London planes grow best in full sun, but they also thrive in partial shade.
The bark is medium gray and smooth. When mature, the bark shows a distinctive camouflage pattern as patches of green or brown outer bark flake off to expose a more creamy inner bark.
The leaf of a London plane is similar to that of a maple leaf – simple with alternate arrangements that have three to five lobes. These leathery leaves are about six to seven inches wide with roughly toothed edges.
Unfortunately, a few of the Cotinus died and needed replacing. This one may have suffered from some of the ponding we’ve had from the heavy rains.
Once the replacement smoke bushes arrived, Brian took on the task to plant them. As with any tree, the hole must be at least twice the size of the plant’s root ball.
Brian then adds a good sprinkling of slow-release all-purpose fertilizer. This formula includes a good balance of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium.
Before planting, Brian scarifies the roots of every specimen. Scarifying stimulates root growth. Essentially, he teases small portions of the root ball to loosen the roots a bit and create some beneficial injuries. This helps the plant become established more quickly in its new environment. This is a healthy root ball which is root bound at all, so it does not need too much scarifying.
Brian places the smoke bush into the hole with its best side facing the carriage road.
Some specimens still have their stunning “smoke” like plumes.
Next, Brian places it into the hole and backfills, tamping down gently to ensure good contact between the plant and the surrounding soil.
This smoke bush will catch up to the others during the next year. Under optimal conditions, smoke bushes can add about 13 to 24 inches to its height annually.
I love this allée – the bold contrasting colors and the stunning growth habits of the London plane trees and smoke bushes. I’ll be sure to share more photos as these trees continue to grow and flourish.
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