Plant by Name Basket and Container Recipes

This page is here to help you learn some easy combinations that really work. Look for care tips at the end.
We call them recipes. Just like a recipe for cookies or stew or a cake , the basic recipe is where you start. You can substitute and change around after you understand where things are supposed to go. For example: Bacopa is a hanging plant the will go on the outer edge of any planting. Any other hanging plant that takes the same exposure could be used. We give you the recipe and a picture of the newly planted recipe. Make it yourself and be creative. Where we say 4 inch plants you can sub with plants from a bedding plant pak if you can find the varieties. Enjoy! I'll add some more pictures of other combinations that work but weren't on the Recipe Sheet. Note: If some of these plants are unfamiliar to you go to our New Plant page and look for them there. You can always e-mail us and ask.

At last I am going to add some more planter combinations to this page. We did three doorways at the San Diego County Fair this year. One entryway was called Easy Street with low water-low care combinations. The middle door way is Sunny-side of the Street and the last one is ShadyLane. For those of you who don't live in the San diego area our county fair has a theme each year and this year is Cinema Summer. Supposed to play off of Movie titles. Mine was Street of Dreams. Dumb!!

The street names were songs[I think] at some time in the past. We didn't win any great prize so I guess we weren't quite up to the Oscar Awards standards but that's OK/ It looked pretty good to me and it gives people ideas and that the purpose. So here goes---first a picture of the exhibit and then you can look at the combo's and cop them or come in and we'll make you a new one.

This combo has tall Anizoganthus'Kangaroo Paws with Agastache 'Apricot Sprite',Turkish Tansy, Cuphea 'Cigar Plant',Carex grass'Frosty curls' and Bracteantha Sundaze. It will grow happily in the sun and culd get by with watering every two weeks or so.
	This easy care planter takes even less water. The Lion's Tail Leonotis is low water and can go into the drought tolerant garden later on. Red Kangaroo Paws in the center [almost hidden] Ozothmus 'White Rice flower' is low water and so it the Sedum 'Angelina'
More combos and the descriptions are coming soon.

	1. Shade Basket or Container Combination Use the 16" redwood basket or a minimum 16" to 18" container. One double rosebud impatiens or regular single impatiens in center. Two 4" basket fuchsias around center. Two 4" Bacopa ‘snowflake' divided or one or two 6" blue dancing flowers (Streptocarpella) alternated with Bacopa ‘snowflake' around the outside
	2. Shade Basket or Container Start with one 8" or two 6" tuberous begonias in the center. two or four 6" blue dancing flowers (Streptocarpella) around center. (divide if you use 2) four 4" Ivy divided to go around the edges Optional: Put in one or two small hanging fuchsias near the center and be surprised when you see some blooms peaking out. Pinch the tips at least 3 times to make them branch.
	3. Sun Basket or Pot One or two 4" Osteospermum Sunscape or Symphony daisies four 4" Temari of coordinating color three 4" Bacopa ‘snowflake' 4. This combo is for sun or part sun. You can see that this combination has been growing for a month or so and is already big and beautiful.
	4. Shade or Part Sun, Large Pot with one 8" yellow Pachystachys ‘Golden Candles' in the center, two 8" Dragon Wing begonias either side of center. This begonia gets masses of large clusters of blooms. Easy to grow. You could put four 4" Lobelia ‘Royal Jewels' or Bacopa ‘snowflake' around the edges Very spectacular combination.
	5. Sun Pot or Container One 8" or three 4" Sundaze Strawflowers in center, four 4" white Nemesia and three or four 4" Temari verbena Optional: With a larger container try Surfinia petunias or Million Bells in place of, or in addition to Nemesia and Temari or Bacopa Snowflake
	6. Shade Basket, Container or Planter One 6" medium tall Fuchsia, (varieties like Dark eyes, Dollar Princess, Pink Jade or Display. (Use 10" for immediate show or one 6" Solenia begonia, two or four Bacopa ‘snowflake
Sorry, I guess I never took a picture of this. Looked for it at the nursery and apparently it has already sold to some happy home owner. Will try to recreate it when I have time.	7 Sun Container or Planter One 8" Argyranthemum Courtyard Daisy, four any color 4" Temari verbena, four 4" Lobelia or Bacopa ‘snowflake'
	Recipe 8 for Sun One nice geranium or any other low daisy in the center. The picture shows one of the Sunnyside Osteospermum with geraniums and verbena around the edges. We also did a geranium alone in center with plants around the edges. This is a cast iron combination that is good for sun. Easy and fast.

Remember that all baskets and containers combinations need good maintenance.

Care tips.
Hint #1 Don't let your basket dry out. Baskets usually need watering once a day, sometimes twice. Big containers can get along with less frequent watering. Think about the proportions. How much mass of plants above the container compared to how much soil space in the basket or pot. The smaller the amount of available soil the more frequent the watering.
Next think exposure. Wind and heat and sun dry out plants faster than shade and shelter. The same pot of plants that I must water every day outside in my garden can go for almost a week without water inside my cool darker garage.
Taking a short vacation? Try putting some of your baskets and pots in the COOL garage or bathroom.

Hint #2 Don't be afraid to dead head, cut back or trim off the flowers that are past their prime. Every plant is different. Ask us and we'll give you specifics. Some plants like all of the Argyranthemum daisy group are 'bloom, chop and grow back into bloom'. Others are different.

Hint #3 Fertilizer is absolutely essential! This is like the survivor show. Those plants are stuck in the basket or pot and they have to have food given to them. They cannot reach out and find it in nearby soil. Use a slow release like Osmocote or do a liquid feed every two weeks. Our customers call our jugs of feed 'The Good Stuff' but anything is better than doing nothing.

Hint #4 Be realistic in how long you expect your plants to bloom and look good. This is not a bush in the ground that sort of goes on forever. All plants have blooming seasons and good and bad attributes. You can ask for the moon and I can tell you anything but in the end the plant will tell you the truth.
Signed, Tough Mama Evelyn

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