Here they are, so proud of their monkey.

Well...I was talking about that PVC planter, all excited and now reality sets in. I should have only planted small cell packs of plants. It was hard to fit the 3" plants in the 2-1/2" holes. I may have some failures going on here. Time will tell.

kathy, It's all a krap shoot when you work out a good idea.
There is always next year when you are a bit wizer.
Great idea, good luck.

I agree with Jo Ann. But some of them might end up doing okay. Looking forward to seeing it in a month. Keeping my fingers crossed for you.

A couple of containers

Hi there Dave. Love you shade container garden. You have a wonderful mix of plants.

Dave, your container garden is just lovely. I have plant envy.

Lynn - I don't usually appreciate "character" style containers, but that monkey makes me laugh out loud - startled the dogs, even. I have container envy.

Thank you Carol. I have to say when the girls were finished planting it I had the same reaction. It makes me smile every time I look at it. That monkey has now added more memories to the memories in my mind and heart.

It must finally be spring.
DD and I planted the containers . They look ratty now and the caladiums arent up yet but here is the first pix for 2017












I just love that osteospermum double pink.

Hmm, I didn't see anything "ratty"...I like your purples, especially the osteospermum!

The annuals will chub up in a couple of weeks.
I forgot two planters

Kathy, I made a tower like that for strawberries. I stuffed huge plants into the smaller holes. Most of them took and are growing well. I find watering is hard. We have a drip system in the top. If it runs too fast it fills up and spills over, and soil runs out the holes. I'm trying to slow it down to the right amount, but now the bottom plants are drying out. I was hoping the plants would cover the tubing, but so far it's not.

Karen, glad to have company on this PVC journey ! I did put a half inch diameter pvc pipe down the center for watering. I drilled a bunch of holes in it, hoping I can distribute water evenly. You really do have to water gently or loose your potting soil.

Karen, glad to have company on this PVC journey ! I did put a half inch diameter pvc pipe down the center for watering. I drilled a bunch of holes in it, hoping I can distribute water evenly. I agree, you really do have to water gently or loose your potting soil.
I'm shopping for a couple more plants to fill in where the verbina died.
I also drilled holes in a plastic half barrel, that setup is doing way better.

That was a good idea to put in the perforated tube down the center. I just left about 8 inches at the top for water, and it doesn't get watered evenly at all. I was thinking that the strawberries would cover the pole and I'd be picking lots of strawberries. As it is, birds came in and harvested the berries as soon as they were ripe! We fixed that by putting hardware cloth over all the vents, so now we will get the ripe berries.

I agree with Bev. Jo Ann nothing ratty looking about your containers. They are going to be amazing when everything starts filling in. You have such a gift for creating beautiful containers.

Karen and Kathy, I really look forward to seeing more photos showing your progress on this planting method.

Thanks Lynn, Planing the Planters is my winter project. I must have dozens.

I want to remind you all, especially the new comers, that the May Raffle That Is Not a Raffle is going. Here is the link.
https://garden.org/ideas/view/...

Another link for those that are newcomers. Don't forget to read Baja_Costero first post for requirements to receive acorns.
Baja_Costero

Planted all my pots this weekend. Now there's a big storm coming with winds gusting up to 100 kilometers/hour to tomorrow!! How can I protect them?? I put all the hanging baskets in the garage, but so e of these pots are too heavy to pick up and move!

I have sheets of shade cloth that I use for shade, for protecting succulent plants from thirsty, hungry critters and for temporary protection from wind and rain. Some shade cloths are heavier than others. I have both kinds.