No Place Like Home -- Karen Wight
I’ve been laid back (a.k.a. lazy) about my garden this winter. Aside
from pruning the roses and pulling a few weeds, it’s been neglected. And
it looks like it.
I’m not quite ready to take on the spring face-lift with flats of
flowers, adding good soil and fertilizing, but I am prepared to take on
some small-scale jobs. I need to build up to a crescendo and starting
with my outside pots seems to be the about the right speed.
A few of my containers are filled with “no-brainer plants,” God love
‘em. Things like clipped boxwoods are low maintenance and so far, I
haven’t been able to kill any. But occasionally, the boxwoods look a
little lonely and like to invite a few blooming friends to spend a season
with them.
If you have a perennial that longs for companionship, add a little
color. I like simple combinations such as white flowers planted with some
variegated greenery. If you’re feeling perkier than I am, go for a burst
of color, but make a plan. Don’t buy 10 different things and expect a
good show. Plant one or two types of plants, they get along better that
way.
If you want to try something different this year, think about making a
tiny vegetable garden in your outdoor containers. Lettuces are beautiful
plants and come in a huge variety of colors and sizes. Plant an upright
tomato in the center with a decorative support of some kind, and add
lettuces and trailing rosemary around the perimeter. Edible beauty.
I’ve been experimenting with some succulents. So far, my favorites are
the green “string of pearls.” Do you remember those from the ‘70s? We all
had them hanging in pots with macrame supports. Macrame. Doesn’t that
bring on a few flashbacks?
Another friendly succulent is the Christmas cactus. These plants are
very easy, and I emphasize easy. They grow with almost no attention, have
interesting stems that arch up and over the pot, and come in a great
variety of colors.
I have the white version, but there are fuchsia, coral and light pink
specimens as well. I clumped several together for impact and have the pot
on a table under a covered patio. They seem to be happy no matter what I
do.
One of my favorite container plantings lately was a mound of
ornamental kale -- which comes in white or purple -- surrounded with
cascading string of pearls. A friend and I planted this combination in
her very large rusted urns that sit on pediments at the front of the
house. The whole effect is dramatic and a little unexpected.
Sooner or later the kale will get too leggy and she’ll have to replace
the center plants. And when she does, we’ll come up with something else
unexpected. That’s part of the fun.
* KAREN WIGHT is a Newport Beach resident. Her column runs Sundays.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.