Photo of the Month - July 2013: Viola labradorica

Decided to do a photo of the month. No major info or verbiage attached to the photo. Just God's creation - nature at its best and why I like it.

Viola labradorica

Opened seed head. Love how each seed is so perfectly situated and tucked in. No wonder I get little seedlings everywhere.

Perennials That Never Fail To Overwinter In Containers

I own a lot of outdoor containers that can withstand the winter months. Instead of hauling them in and out of my garage to keep plants from dieing, I experimented with perennials these past years to see if any survive, regardless of my efforts.

I have found several plants "keep on keeping on", in my containers when spring arrives.

Here is Lamium maculatum "pink pearls". Dead Nettle is the common name. I use it in the corners as a trailer to spill over the container. Quite drought tolerant and has great frost tolerance too.

Here it is again. There are many cultivars are on the market with silver foliage, white, pink, pale purple flowers. Some golden foliage, some variegated. Plenty to choose from.

This is called: Lysimachia nummularia 'aurea' or Golden Creeping Jenny.  In this cast iron urn, both plants have come back for over 4 years. I just replace some of the soil at the top of the container, and top dress with a slow release fertilizer. I water more regularly, simply because of it's small diameter.

This plant in the centre is also a member of the Lamium family. This one is however rather aggressive in the garden, used often as a fast covering ground cover. It's called Jade Frost Lamiastrum (Lamiastrum galeobdolon 'Jade Frost'). Here I planted it with an obelisque. As the plant tendrils reach out, I gather and weave the stems throughout the obelisque. It really works well as a vine. Yellow flowers begin in late April, early May and then larger variegated foliage continue to grow through til frost.

This hosta looks as though it's planted in the garden.

Nope! This hosta fills a spot easily and can be moved to change the garden design when necessary. One great aspect of hostas in containers: less watering than annuals. This is a great choice for those cottage dwellers on weekends. ;)

One key element that needs to be mentioned is drainage. All these pots have good drainage. This is essential. Any perennial that stays soggy and freezes in total water may not survive in a pot. Be sure to notice that the containers drain thoroughly. If you're worried that soil will wash out from the drainage holes, stick a pine-cone or large gravelly stones over the hole. This way water drains, without soil.

With hostas, it's better to group the pots together, insulating them a bit if placed in an exposed area. Sometimes hostas require no garage placement, sometimes they do. If the hostas have outgrown their pots (root bound) some dieback is noticeable overwinter. If you leave them outside in pots, group and situation in an area with just enough protection from the prevailing winds.

What perennials have survived overwinter in your containers?

Fragaria (Strawberry) Stolons (Runners)

For folks who know little about plant propagation or the way some plants reproduce, here is one way strawberries can produce mini plantlets that are clones from the parent plant.

Off to its side is a baby strawberry plant which has started to situate itself  about 8 inches away from the original plant.

Long tendril like stems called stolons emerge from the base of the parent plant and meander over the surface of the soil (or rocks) looking for a place to grow on its own. First by starting to produce a leaf at a joint, a fair enough distance from the parent plant.

Remove any smaller babies and long stolon stems. They will just take energy away from the plant you want to establish.

If you look carefully at this joint (node) you'll see tiny roots pointing downward to the soil surface. This is the start of a whole new plant - attached by an "umbilical" cord of sorts.

There are two ways you can establish the new plant. 1) Just allowing the plant to find its own way and rooting itself, leaving it until next season.

Or...

2) Cutting it from the parent plant right now, once more than one leaf is present and planting it in an ideal location for the rest of its life. If you want to advance the growing, plant it into a container for a couple of weeks to get a better root mass before planting it out in the garden.

Here, I just situated the baby plant in a location free of competition; it has good light and ample space to flourish.

You can even grow strawberries in containers and let the stolons droop over the container, making a hanging basket. Unfortunately, the stolon plants won't produce any strawberries this season.

Perhaps you are familiar with the common house plant called: Spider Plant Chlorophytum comosum.  This same principal can be applied to this plant as well. Their stolons are just the same as the strawberry.

NOTE: Two aspects of stolons that are negative: 1) they do remove essential energy from the parent plant; 2) you get plants establishing everywhere.

When you see stolons and flowers on the strawberry plant, much of the plant's energy will go to the stolon and not the fruit if they are left to themselves. If you've ever gone strawberry picking as I have, you'll notice many of the strawberry plants have had their stolons removed for this purpose. Nothing is better than having sweet, juicy strawberries. Keep some of the stolons for next year's crop, but do remove the rest of them throughout the harvest season.

Update - Decorative Vegetable and Herb Planter

I love demonstrating plants growing. It's been about 2 weeks since we planted this container in our last post: Decorative Vegetable and Herb Planter.

Once this photo was taken, we harvested a bowl full of lettuce, leaving still plenty more for later this week.

Unfortunately, we underestimated the tomatoes growing as fast as they have. It shades a lot of the underplantings. The dwarf dill had to be removed, as it was starting to rot out from lack of sun.

All in all, the growth has been so satisfying. We've not used any fertilizers. The weather has co-operated and we are enjoying the harvest!