Side-planting basic: Choose the Right Plants. Most good plants work in the top of an instant basket. Not so for the sides. These plants are literally planted sideways, and some like it while others quickly die. Here are the results of our trials for side plantings. Easiest Plants for Side Planting All of the plants shown (left) did extremely well in the sides of the containers. Wax Begonia
Impatiens
Coleus
Wax begonias - I tried many types and all thrived! They are a valuable plant for these containers because, most are grown from seed and are so inexpensive. Coleus - Fabulous! Use the giant coleus both in the sides as well as for a centerpiece. It doesn’t grow as large in the sides. Be careful of the ‘Wizard’ mix because of problems encountered by many in the 2005 season.
Purple Queen Impatiens - Wonderful. All types thrived, including ‘Little Lizzie’, New Guineas, and doubles. Trailing torenia - Wonderful. Lasted longer than the upright torenia.
Lysimachia ‘Outback Sunset’
Ivy
Trailing Torenia
Dragon Wing Begonia
Purple queen - The plant did well, but didn’t look great. It tends to stick out a bit awkwardly, as if it can’t make up its mind whether to trail or clump! Dragon wing begonias - One of the best performers of our trials. They are slower to start than the wax begonias, but have a higher percentage of color in the long run. Pansies and violas - Great! I tried many different types, and they thrived.
Creeping Jenny
Viola or Pansy
Creeping Jenny - Gardeners love this one! Lamium - I loved lamium with different shades of purple. Melampodium - Did well in most instances. Tends to grow a bit larger than many of the others I used with it, like wax begonias and upright torenia.
Viola
Lamium
Variegated Mint
‘Little Lizzie’ Impatiens
Melapodium
Scavola ‘Blue Wonder’
Scaevola - Both the white and the blue did beautifully.
Mixed Performers for the Sides
Upright Torenia
Petunia
Verbena
Sweet Potato Vines (all)
Lobelia
The plants shown (left) rate mixed reviews. The upright torenia, although I used it frequently and will continue to, didn’t live as long as the trailing type. It also drooped awkwardly after a while, requiring a cut-back that took a few weeks to recover from. Trailing verbena did very well sometimes but stopped blooming in others. All of the upright verbena quickly died. Petunias were the most confusing flower we tried - some of them thrived while others quickly died. We had the best luck with Wave Petunias. Proven Winners’ Supertunias, did very well, but a few of them died (after 18 inches of rain from a hurricane!) Sweet potato vines did too well, taking over many of my baskets. I still use them, though, but carefully! Lobelia worked sometimes and died others. I love this plant, and will continue to try to succeed with it. Periwinkles lived in Georgia, but not in Florida - probably because the rainfall is double in Florida. But their form wasn’t ideal - they stuck out awkwardly.
Periwinkle
Plants that Died Quickly in the Sides The plants shown (left) died quickly in the sides of our baskets. However, most did quite well when planted in the top of the baskets. Fuschia
Snapdragon
Marigolds
Marguerite Daisy
We don’t know why they died, and it is possible that other cultivars of these same flowers could do well. We will keep testing, and you do the same. If you would like to share any of your experiences, contact us at
[email protected]
Some of Our Favorite Centerpieces Centerpieces, which are planted in the top of the basket, grow like any other container plant, so there are unlimited choices.
Caladiums
Shrimp Plant
We particularly like the ones shown to the left (and shown on the next two pages) because of their upright growth habit which contrasts well with the mounding or trailing growth habit of the plants we use in the sides and along the edges. Centerpieces look best when they are quite full on planting day.
Ti Plants, small
Grasses
Blue Salvia
Dracaenas, small
In larger baskets, we often used plants from three-gallon pots for centerpieces. In smaller baskets, use one gallon-size plants or three plants from 4.5-inch pots. Your centerpiece should be larger than the edge plants, so choose it carefully. For example, we used red salvia as a centerpiece and surrounded it by coleus and begonias. The edge plants outgrew the salvia, but we liked the look so much we just kept pinching the taller plants back! 3
Easy Centerpieces Arranged by Color Yellow
Calif. Daisy
Golden Shrimp Plant
Blue
Blue Salvia (annual)
Purple-red
Penta (over 18” tall)
Purple-blue
Persian Shield
PInk, light
Caladilum
Penta (over 18” tall)
Pink, hot
Caladium
Penta (over 18” tall)
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Easy Centerpieces Arranged by Color White
Caladium
Penta (over 18” tall)
Grass (over 18” tall)
Rust
Grass (over 18” tall)
Green
Grass (over 18” tall)
Red
Caladium
Red Penta (over 18” tall)
Red Salvia
Burgundy
Ti Plant
Coleus ‘Kong Scarlet’
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Coleus ‘Kong Rose’
Easy Side and Edge Plants, Mounding Yellow
Melampodium
Lysimachia ‘Outback Sunset’ Coleus ‘Mardi Gras’
Coleus ‘Pineapple’
Pansy or Viola
Coleus ‘The Flume’
Blue
Torenia ‘Sunbright’
Pansy or Viola
Purple-red
Impatiens
Purple-blue
Coleus ‘Dark Star’
Impatiens
Pansy or Viola
PInk, light
Wax Begonia
Gumdrops Begonia
Double Impatiens
Impatiens
Double Impatiens
Impatiens
Coleus ‘Painted Pink’
Pink, hot
Dragonwing Begonia
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Easy Side and Edge Plants, Mounding White
Wax Begonia
Double Impatiens
Impatiens
‘Little Lizzy’ Impatiens
Pansy or Viola
Coleus ‘Kong Scarlet’
Pansy or Viola
Coleus ‘Defiance’
Double Impatiens
Impatiens
Coleus ‘Crime Scene’
Coleus ‘Kong Rose’
Rust
Coleus ‘Crime Scene’
Coleus ‘Freckles’
Coleus ‘Wizard Scarlet’
Coleus ‘Crime Scene’
Coleus ‘Life Lime’
Lime
Coleus ?
Red
Dragon Wing Begonia
Wax Begonia
Burgundy
Coleus ?
Coleus ‘Mrs. Harding’
Orange
Impatiens
Impatiens ‘Little Lizzy’
Viola or Pansy
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Easy Easy Centerpieces Trailers Arranged Arranged by by Color Color White Blue
Caladium Trailing Torenia
Penta (over tall) Scaevola ‘Blue18” Wonder’
Grass (over 18” tall)
Rust Purple-red
Grass (over 18” tall) Trailing Torenia
Green Purple-blue
Grass (over 18” tall) Trailing Torenia
Wave Petunia
Red Pink, light
Persian Shield Wave Petunia
Burgundy White
Ti Plant Wave Petunia
Penta (over‘Whirlwind 18” tall) White’ Scaevola
Pink, hot
Wave Coleus Petunia Giant
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Easy Trailers Arranged by Color Green
Creeping Jenny
Ivy
Variegated
Ivy
Lamium
Mint, Variegated
Container Index: Centerpieces Plants Begonia 'Dragon Wing'
Bromeliad
Bok choy
Caladium
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Container Index: Centerpieces Plants Coleus
Crotons
Dracaena spp.
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Container Index: Centerpieces Plants Geranium
Grass, Acorus spp.
Grass, Carex spp.
Grass, Juncus spp.
Grass, Liriope spp.
4
Container Index: Centerpieces Plants Grass, Pennisetum spp.
Impatiens, Double
Impatiens, New Guinea
Mona Lavender (stops blooming in hot weather)
Pentas (continued on next page)
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Container Index: Centerpieces Plants Pentas (continued from previous page)
Perilla
Persian Shield
Salvia, Annual Red or Purple
Salvia, Blue
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Container Index: Centerpieces Plants Shrimp Plant, Golden
Snapdragon
Ti Plant
Zinnia
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Container Index: Side and Edge Plants Begonia 'Dragon Wing'
Begonia, ‘Gumdrops’
Begonias, Wax (continued on next page)
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Container Index: Side and Edge Plants Begonias, Wax (continued from previous page)
Coleus (continued on next page)
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Container Index: Side and Edge Plants Coleus (continued from previous page)
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Container Index: Side and Edge Plants Coleus (continued from previous page)
Creeping Jenny
Impatiens (continued on next page)
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Container Index: Side and Edge Plants Impatiens (continued from previous page)
Impatiens ‘Little Lizzie’
Impatiens, New Guinea
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Container Index: Side and Edge Plants Impatiens, Double'
Ivy
Lysimachia 'Outback Sunset'
Melampodium
Ornamental Cabbage or Kale
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Container Index: Side and Edge Plants Pansies
Petunias (‘Easy Wave’ and ‘Supertunias’ only - many others died - trials continue...)
Plectranthus, Variegated
Sweet Potato, Black
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Container Index: Side and Edge Plants Sweet Potato, Margarita
Sweet Potato, Tricolor
Syngonium
Torenia, Trailing
Torenia, Upright (continued on next page)
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Container Index: Side and Edge Plants Torenia, Upright (continued from previous page)
Vinca Vine
Violas
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