This past weekend I had a wonderful time just outside of Denver celebrating the wedding of one of my cousins. It was nice to get away for a little bit and see a different part of the country. Of course, while there, I couldn’t resist checking out some local container gardens. As far as I can tell, Colorado is a stunningly beautiful state. And most of the plantings I saw were beautiful. But I did see two that I thought could be learning opportunities. I hate to say something not nice, but if these two containers can save you from making the same mistakes, it’ll be worth it. I hope.
Not Enough Color Variation
You all know how much I love black plants. But there is such a thing as too much in one container. And I think this planting falls victim to that mistake. The purple fountain grass combined with the black sweet potato vine turns this container into a black hole. It looks drab instead of eye-catching.
If I was in charge of this pot, I would have substituted a lime green sweet potato vine for the deep purple one. After that, if it needed more help carrying through the black theme, I would have added a plant with black flowers. But two plants with black foliage is too much.
So Close, But Not Quite
I loved how lush and colorful this planting was. And it is a nice mix of textures and sizes. But the purple cordyline spikes are too small to stand on their own alongside the cascade of other plants. Perhaps this pot looked great when first planted, but the rest of the plants have grown faster than the cordyline?
If I was a container gardening fairy godmother, I would tap my wand and plant something black that was bigger. I like the spikey-ness. But it just needs to have more stature.
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I think the second one would look a lot better if the cordyline wasn’t there at all….and that arrangement would be even better in a hanging container- in my opinion.
The first container is terrible…like something I would have tried putting together
Emi–I don’t think you can yank the cordyline out and not replace it. The container needs some height to visually balance it. But I agree it would look great in a hanging basket!
I totally agree about the Blackie sweet potato vine–if the Margarita variety was substituted, it would really stand out and pick up the light green parts of the purple fountain grass. I’ve used cascading purple petunias with that combo and it looks great; just enough contrast!
I love the flowers in the second container, but just don’t think the cordyline is the right color choice for how shockingly bright the flowers are. What about lemongrass instead? Beautiful green color, and more height to balance the profusion of flowers below!
Hrm. I grow purple fountain grass with purple sweet potato vine. I think it looks just fine, but it’s specifically in a pot that is propped up and behind some lilies so the vine trails down between two other pots. And the fountain grass looks nice behind the bright lily leaves and blooms.
See what I did there? I turned a mistake into something good
The second pot would make a stunning basket, your right! The first pot is a mess of problems.
I think the second one would look better in a taller container. I don’t like that it has one spiky taller plant and then the rest are all pretty much the same level. It would look better if there was a taller plant in the center and some plants with a height in between the two other heights. Bye
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