Speaking of containers.....the above pictures are just beautiful. In the past week all my containers have just been fried. I water in the evening and morning and the only survivors are the tropicals. They are showing signs of being burned. I give them the morning sun only then the sun setter awning goes down and they have shade until late afternoon if their is no strong winds blowing.
This afternoon, the temperature on the East deck in the shade is 103 deg. and in the Greenhouse in the shade with all the fans going it is 106 deg. The only survivor of the East Deck is the old girl, my Disocactus. She bloomed and now is just growing her big old heart out. Look at all the new growth on the top of this plant. This is one big container. At least it is still alive and seems happy.


Here is how she looked a month ago.


Thank you for sharing all your pretty containers....I just love looking at the different plants you all use together. This is such a great thread. It is like taking a walk and looking at everyone's decks and porches.

JB,
Your Disocactus is Wow, just beautiful. Will it bloom again this year?

I will leave it outside until it gets really chilly. When it has gotten a "chill" I will bring it in and it may bloom again inside about November or December....maybe even later since this weather is so crazy. I can not be sure now.
It will depend when it gets its "chill"....she needs that to bloom. She is a beauty if you appreciate that kind of beauty.

I have that one too. Do you water it when you bring it inside? I usually leave mine dry until March and start to water then it starts to bloom. So I only get blooms once in March.

yes, I water it when I water my other plants. i would be afraid not to give it something. I also feed it when I feed the other ones. What color is yours?

I had not watered them from Sept until Feb. I have

The red




This is a pic of one that have that has not bloomed yet (not my pic)


And the white one. This was my first one I purchased. It usually blooms in August

Julia, those containers are wonderful Seattle is such a great place for containers like that. Then you add your tender care, and awesome beauty is produced.

Jacquie I find the new color on the tips of the leaves to be quite attractive. Still getting color after the blooms are gone. Great plant.
Between you and Cinta I am learning about a plant I had never seen before.

Awesome bloom photos Cinta.

Wonderful containers Julia. You are inspiring me to use more of my sedums next year.

Jacquie, sorry to hear about so many of your containers being cooked. I only water once daily, if that and mine seem to be holding up so far. The Disocactus is a fascinating plant.

Cinta, they are beautiful plants. I love the colors. Do you call them Orchid Cactus or Disocactus? I forget if there is a difference....I need to look that up again. I think it depends on who is talking.

There is an interesting story behind my disocactus. I have a friend here in NJ that originally was from S. Africa.
We met when we were both in the exotic bird breeding business. She also groomed my pet parrots since I could not do it because of my arthritic fingers (I was afraid I would cut the birds since they do wiggle a lot when being groomed). She would bring her Mother who was close to my age with her to my farm to visit when she came to groom birds. Her Mother had some plants her friends had given her and she ask me if when she got too sick to care for them would I take them. What could I say. This big old girl had to be cut back about three feet to get her into the car to bring her to my house.I almost had a heart attack when I first saw the size of it.

I ask what it was. No one knew, so I took pictures and sent them to the cactiguide.com website and ask for help. It took awhile and then one day I got an email and this is what it said.

Here is a copy of the email I got from them:

Joined: 16 Aug 2004
Posts: 20989
Location: Long Prairie, MN
Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 9:27 pm Post subject:

Here it is:

http://www.cactiguide.com/cact...

I would say that you can be pretty sure on this one.

Here are the parents: One is common in cultivation, one is almost nonexistent. While the true D. ackermanii is even more rare!

http://www.cactiguide.com/cact...

http://www.cactiguide.com/cact...
_________________
All Cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are Cacti


If you look up those links, they give you a complete description of both parents of my plant. I was and am just thrilled now that I know what it is, watching it grow and make changes while it is outside.

Sorry to be so lengthy, but I thought you may want to know the background of it. So many people think they are buying the real D. ackermannii when they buy it online and that is because many of the people selling do not have a true ID of the plant they are selling. They are no doubt selling hybrids but that happens and it is so difficult to tell the difference if you are not a real professional. I certainly do not know one from the other.

Have a good day. I need to get to work.

This spring we knew we would need summer shade for the Smoke Shack to be able to enjoy it for reading/relaxing (me) or enjoying a cigar/relaxing (hubby). Since we hadn't decided on steps or how we were going to seam up under the shack we decided on Sunset green beans (runner beans) and annuals in planters to provide summer shade and a little color. I spray painted old plastic containers to match the shed. We are now enjoying the color and the shade. Next year there will be in ground planters.

Jewell that is wonderful. I love the Smoke Shack.

Jewell, that is one nice shack!! Any chance for a tour inside! Looks like a cozy place.

Got a few pictures today. Things are filling in.


My hanging baskets.


Coleus combos

This was a fall planting I did last year. This summer I pulled the pansy and added a coleus and a few black cherry petunia.

This was leftovers from my greenhouse. Sorry just didn't have the energy to move that pressure washer.

Beautiful containers.Everything looks so abundant.

Beautiful....love all the different combinations and colors. Coleus are so pretty......must take forever to water.

Thanks!! Watering containers is fast once hoses and such are out for the year. I'm in Washington so mother nature helps quite often.

Those are all wonderful Julia. And all so healthy and lush.

me too.. Wonderful combos.

containers at the front door
Red Dragon Wings are so slow this year. I grow these from seed in the greenhouse. I think the petunia a blue wave, also from seed.

Great lookers Julia.