These three horse troughs are lined up along the sidewalk…
The three horse troughs that are planted each year at Dyron’s restaurant next door finally got their summer makeover the other day. Last year’s troughs were planted with a variety of herbs and annuals, and you can see them if you click on the link above.
This year’s planting utilizes the tropical shrub, thryallis. It’s bright yellow flowers provide continuous color through our summer heat and will show off well in this spot. These planters get very hot afternoon sun, and I’ve found that brighter colors really work best here.
While all caladiums appreciate heat and shade, there are some that can also handle sun, including ‘Red Flash’, the one shown here. These deep red leaves will mingle with the other foliage and flowers, including a copper plant, Acalypha ‘Tahitian Gold’. It was chosen for its yellow foliage to echo the yellow blooms of the thryallis. The acalypha and a red fountain grass will grow up tall, providing a nice backdrop to this composition.
Since it is a restaurant, after all, and ornamental peppers were plentiful in the nursery, those were placed next, just in front of red Dragonwing begonias. Eventually the peppers might be enveloped by the other plants, but until then they’ll contribute their small white flowers and ornamental purple peppers to the mix,
Next up, some zinnias – the Profusion series perform beautifully in our heat and humidity and add white blooms with yellow centers all season. A tiny leaved coleus, Ruby Gold, will fill in the center. Finally, to trail, some potato vine, a chartreuse-leaved variety in the Sweet Georgia series. These are not quite as rambunctious as the old standby, ‘Margarite’.
Last, a silver trailing plant. Usually I use silver dichondra for this color because it holds up extremely well in our heat and humidity where so many other silver plants fail. This year, though, I’ve decided to try a new plant…a selection of one that I haven’t had good luck with, but this is supposed to be an improved variety, so we’ll see. It’s a licorice vine, Helichrysum ‘Silver Star’. We’ll keep an eye on this one and hope for the best. It scored high marks in the University of Georgia Athens trial gardens, so I have high hopes!
Maintenance, as always, will involve consistent watering, as well as grooming to remove any yellowing leaves and caladium seed pods. I’ll also be clipping back the ‘Dragonwing’ begonias to keep them in bounds, deadheading and clipping the zinnias, and cutting back the acalypha if it grows out of proportion. Correct maintenance is the most important aspect of keeping container gardens beautiful!
A testament to its common name of cast iron plant, the aspidistra looked amazingly good considering the bone-chilling temperatures Birmingham dipped to in January. It only needed a few leaves cut out, and no thinning was required this season…probably due to the cold. A heuchera, that had been added in the 
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Because succulents, air plants and even 
The emphasis is on foliage, though, and I’ve included curly parsley for it’s fresh green color, a small blue fescue grass, and a shade loving heuchera for this planting. Holdovers from the summer are aspidistra, which I thin out each season, and a tiny leaf green ivy. After planting, I added birch branches to add more height and winter interest. (Branches are an easy way to get color in planters during the holiday – red twig dogwood branches would also be pretty.) While it looks a bit top heavy with the tall aspidistra at first, the parsley and heuchera will add fullness to the composition as it grows in. I’m also trying the Cool Wave white trailing pansies here this year, hoping they get enough sun to bloom well.
This fall Pardis asked if I would also take a look at the planters at Bottega, their other wonderful restaurant.
I’m not quite sure I’ve been living in the Southeast this summer…plentiful rain and decent temperatures – (Though it looks like the heat is finally returning.) this has been Alabama in August?!
But, if your garden and beds are struggling…think about where you’d like to see marigolds, ornamental peppers, late season salvias, and, further down the road, lettuce, asters and cool season herbs – we’ll have transplants of parsley, thyme (Look for the lemon variegated thyme which looks beautiful with green or red lettuce and marigolds.) dill and cilantro too.
With 2013 beginning with a wet, cool spring and the rain continuing into early summer, it seemed like we’d been transported into a different universe than Alabama, didn’t it? All the rain may have caused some complacency – everything seems so much lusher than it usually is this time of year…now the heat is here, though, and it seems certain we’ll be entering our usual summer pattern of hit and miss rain showers with lots of warmth and humidity…
Established plantings in your landscape should be doing well, but be aware that new plantings of shrubs, trees and perennials will need supplemental watering this first summer – pay attention to them. The requirement for new plantings is an inch of water each week.
Owners Frank and Pardis Stitt prefer white and green for the front of this French cafe, located next to their acclaimed restaurant Highlands in downtown Birmingham. These are fairly large, tan colored cast stone planters with nice clean lines. A mix of contrasting green and variegated foliage with a touch of white add light to this shady spot, and the stone wall adds a pleasing backdrop to the planting.
