I'm just starting to acquire a few mums here. I have several in pots that I want to get in the ground in an area. Someone down the street has a lovely display of those reddish-orange ones. I have that color and yellow and Gigi White. I don't know where I'll put them. I have too many pots as it is and get weary of watering them when it gets dry in the summer. I'm my own worst enemy.

i love mums..I dont keep track of which ones I have...But I have a question OK I planted 4 mums last fall in the oak barrels I take care of at an office we clean. I planted 2 purple 2 bronze,I have 2 volunteers this year one is a really pretty light bronze and the other is yellow. The yellow one came up on the ground next to the bronze 1 in the barrel and the light bronze came up next to the purple.....So are they not true from seed ??? I did not plant them nor have I added soil and the like,Ive got lots of violas and peatunia volunteers,but thats waht Ive planted over the years,im seeing the same here at home ,over the years

A sunflower from a few years ago ..just found this photo thought it was gone ...

No, they don't come true from seed as far as I know. Or it's a situation of may or may not.

Thanks tee for confirming what I had thought ,actually it is kind of cool,i got such a pretty color from the bronze mum,Ill have to get a photo of it.I like surprizes....

I do too, Tam. I rarely complain when something reseeds and I get beautiful flowers. What's not to like?

Well, if space is an issue, I'd stay away from the "football" mums - they're hugemoungous.

I'm not very good at keeping things going in pots, either. I invariably miss a day or two and everything either croaks or just looks like they want to croak.

I'm determined to eliminate some of my pots next year. I keep saying that every year and it hasn't happened yet. Several years ago we had a summer where it rained along just perfectly all summer long. I hardly had to lift a hose or carry a watering can. So I got lulled into a sense of hopefulness ... and just keep right on with that, I guess.

Have lots of Morning Glory seed to share.
Harvested, Celestial mix, Grandpa Otts, Pink, Japanese varieties, hot pinks, etc.
Send me a treemail.

Just a few stragglers left of the Monarch brigade....it's getting a bit too cold for them here now.




.......and Cinco de Mayo is really red in the cold.

Ohhhhh Tee!! I am in the same container boat as you are. I decided not to put containers in the garden next year,too far to drag the hose in dry weather. I will keep several in storage. These had liners in them and were emptied so I could stack them.
I am trying to abide by my new rule to only have containers on the deck. This eleminates about 5.

I plant fewer pots each year- too much work. The stuff planted in the ground pretty much takes care of itself.

Karen

Beautiful photos, Chelle!

Thanks, Janice.

I've shortened my container range. I find that I'm able to cart water in a radius of about 30 yards; any more than that and I'm grumbling to myself. I had no luck at all with summertime containers until I finally figured out that filling them with compost helps them retain enough moisture for a couple of days at least; sometimes for as long as a week in part-shade.

I also have pretty much eliminated containers. I have my cymbidiums near the front porch, but they are in watering range of the sprinkler system so no hand watering is needed. I have maybe 4 plants on the front porch, and two in the back. They get watered with gray water from the kitchen sink.

I love container gardening but I'm the same as you, Jo Ann, about dragging the hose around. Out West we had a sprinklers and a drip system. Our last two summers have been so hot and dry. Even some other things that are in the ground need to be watered with a hose when it gets like that, and I may eliminate some of them too or change them out for something else. Shortening the range ... works for me,

Lovely pictures, Chelle. I haven't seen any Monarchs here for awhile. I still have a few Viceroys and various other things. But not very many. Winter is comin' on.

I have a bunch of 12 inch lightweight pots ,bought on impulse and planted with zinnias. Bad choice of potting mix made constant watering necessary,I mean every day. I am going to 18-20 inch pots brought from the old house.I'm putting perennials in them,and will add coleus and other annuals in spring.
I am looking at new varieties of coleus and will pop over to that forum with my question.I just want any feedback as to performance of the large uprights I am interested in for the woodpile garden.

Had brought my one potted plant in 2 days ago. I'm glad as there was snow & ice overnight.

Okay, I'm getting freaked out with these posts about snow - NJBob said he got his first, too. But I'm not ready!!!!!

The other thing about pots is that plants just seem to do so much better in the ground. My Twist 'n Twirl coleus was stuck in the ground as a last resort (another one that got missed during watering,) now it's a bush.

I only have one pot plant left that I want to get.... and who knows, even that might end up in the ground.






ValleyLynn ID'd it for me as "Sedum spathulifolium purpureum". But after that, I'm finished, I really am!

Light snow on the ground overnight. More coming tomorrow. wish the weeds didn't like it & vanished.

Had forgotten that I seeded this way back when, then today found it laying on the ground and staked it. Read it can be very invasive.
Perfect for Halloween, right by the front steps for the little goblins.