containers

Every year, we travel to Indiana to visit Jeff’s family.  About an hour north of Indianapolis in farm country, it’s like a breath of fresh air.

The weather is cooler, the soil is blacker, the life is simpler.  I feel the stress of life back home drift away as we whiz by field after field of corn and soybeans.  Each visit includes some exploration into native plants and unfamiliar gardens filled with peonies, lilacs, conifers and other plants that would turn to toast in Central Texas.

My mother-in-law’s planters are always stunning.  The feathery grass between my toes provides a sharp contrast between the no-bare-feet-ever policy I adhere to at home to protect myself from biting fire ants.

And then there are the tomatoes.  Oh my.  Seriously delicious.  Real seasons, rich soil, cooler summer nights … I don’t know why, but Eleanor’s tomatoes seem better than any others here on earth.  And we ate them, along with fresh sweet corn, morning, noon and night. Yumm-o.

Jeff’s family also raises Belgian draft horses – gentle giants that punctuate the landscape.  Four mares are making their home there this summer, but 20 years ago there were 28 in the lots and barns around the farm.  One of the highlights of our summer visit, the Indiana State Fair Draft Horse Show has been run and worked by Ellers for four generations now.

I’m also a junk food junkie, and I avail myself of every opportunity to eat something fried, greasy, or sugary.  This year, I had a beef sundae for breakfast at the beef producers’ tent.  Tender, pull apart roast beef, covered with mashed potatoes, corn and gravy.  Mmmmmm. So good.  My nephew, Ashton, who is on the State Fair Board, took us to breakfast in his golf cart and then we toured the Agriculture and Horticulture building, which he helps oversee and run.  He opted for a hotdog — the $2 Tuesday special that day.  Two lemonade/iced tea shake-ups and some cheese fries found their way into me before we left for the day.

My favorite in the Ag/Hort Building?  The giant cheese sculpture!  How.  I could really make some queso with that!

Can’t forget the midway.

Our last event of the day — the dog show.  These wonderful rescue pups performed daring feats of acrobatic skill and delighted the crowd.  And the cute factor was off of the charts!

One morning we woke to a cool, damp 57 degrees, with a whisper of fog settling over the fields. This photo captures the peaceful, picturesque countryside of Indiana farmland.

Back home in Indiana, 2015.

After visiting Kylee of Our Little Acre ‘s garden in northwest Ohio on Monday, we had a delightful lunch with her mother, Louise, of Two Girls with a Purpose, who many garden bloggers know and remember from so many Garden Bloggers Flings as Kylee’s traveling companion. 

Louise’s garden overflows with beautiful garden art.  From family carvings and creations to blown glass and commissioned art, the art is as much a part of the garden as the plants.

A very recent addition, Louise commissioned the creation of the giant metal scroll in the front garden What a statement as you enter the front walkway.

Sadly, in this photo I accidentally cut off the bird’s head at the top of this sculpture – but here’s a better view of it below.  She’s now having another bird made to replace the one she added to the rocks below the sculpture.

These gorgeous horizontal planters flank the front door.  Welcome!

Bright blue glass globes light up this little bed.

 This colorful vertical planter adds Garden Up interest to the brick wall.

A quiet little corner of her side bed evokes a zen-like feeling with this iron pot (originally from China), junipers, conifers and the gentle Buddha.

As we strolled around the beds, this looked like a wonderful place to take a rest.

Oops, can’t sit there!  How clever.

Water features adorn her garden around every corner – whimsical places for birds to drink and bathe.

The sculptural pruning of this tree creates a lovely backdrop for the roses and grasses.

 After the rains, these drooping pine needles and cones were stunning.  I so wish we could grow some of these evergreens in Austin.  I have tree envy.

As we wandered further into the garden, Louise said it was really wet and we should take off our shoes.  I can’t tell you how absolutely delightful it was to walk through the soft, cool grass.  Without fear of vicious fire ants, cracked earth, limestone rocks or other unpleasant creatures.  It took me back to my childhood and time spent on my Mammaw and Pappaw’s farm in Kentucky – running barefoot through the wispy Kentucky blue grass. 

 Hmmm…the perfect idea for using extra pavers or bricks.

 A little protected outside nook houses more art.

Frog antics in yet another birdbath.

 Oh my, ferns and heuchera and creeping jenny and a mushroom!  All familiar things I enjoy in my garden, too.

 I recognize that — it’s a giant saucer hibiscus — not the same variety as mine, but just as tall.

The blooms were really putting on a show for us.

One of my favorite color combinations.  Can you tell which one of these purple blooms is a piece of metal garden art and which is a spent allium?

And around the corner to another little peaceful space with moving art that Louise bought when we were at the fling in Seattle.

 This I loved — Kylee and her mom both had one of these trellises – one of  Kylee’s  Lowe’s projects.

 Birdbath and sculpture all in one.

 A brief glimpse through the trees.

 This looks like a great place to sit with an iced tea and ponder your next garden project.

 Another long view of the bed border with the succulent chair on the very right.

And now for a big garden room for spending the afternoon with friends.

 Although, those swings look like they’d be perfect for napping!

 These glass balls, created by a local artist, include textured pieces that allow butterflies to land on them.

 Precious little details on the posts of the garden room.

What a cool planter hanging in the garden room – and another interesting vertical focal point.

Love these rudbeckias — I might have to try to find some for my garden.

More places for bird to drink.

This intricately-carved man standing watch over the garden was carved by someone in Louise’s family but I can’t remember if it was her father or Kylee’s father – Louise?

So many lovely vignettes and creative ideas greeted me throughout this garden.  Louise’s personality and love for art was evident everywhere I turned. 

Next, a tour of the amazing Children’s Garden and park that Louise helped plan and create in her home town.

The Portland Garden Bloggers Fling this summer delivered on every level.  I love visiting gardens all around the country and getting to know so many of the garden bloggers that I follow online. 

Learning about new plants from different zones is sometimes a double-edged sword. After falling  love with them, I realize they are not appropriate for my garden, and I’m forced to walk away from them at local nurseries because they don’t make the survivability cut for my suitcase. 

But not so in Danger Garden‘s amazing landscape.  Filled with agaves and yuccas and cacti that will not only grow but thrive in my Central Texas garden, it was dangerous indeed.  The danger – that I will come home inspired to search for many of the fascinating plants in her garden.

Garden bloggers prepare for the big tour – cameras at the ready!

Succulents like these like plenty of drainage — pea gravel and decomposed granite make excellent growing mediums for them.

We were welcomed to the garden with refreshing cold drinks and snacks.  A blistering hot day (for Portland and an outdoor garden tour) seemed appropriate as we ooohed and aaahed over Danger Garden’s heat-loving plants.

With space at a premium in this garden, container vegetables lined the driveway.

Pavers and bricks and patio stones created unique design angles to lead visitors through the garden and provide contrast to neighboring plants.

Leaving no area empty, trendy and perky hanging planters were scattered throughout the garden.

A riot of color and form, many non-succulent plants provided a softer foil to the more dangerous elements in the garden.

A small square of grass provides a place for the eye to rest while feasting on all the delightful plant specimens that surround it.

Agaves, yuccas and … hostas?  Yep – these water and shade-loving plants work side-by-side in this garden.

So many unique succulents to see.

Tucked in the back is a Zen-like covered patio area for relaxing.

These shiny metal planters give height and interest to the sea of succulents.

And pots — pots everywhere.  Each and every one different.

With clean lines and a contemporary feel, the patio offers a peaceful respite from the sun.

No empty spaces, here, either…

A unique horizontal fence is flanked in the back corner of the garden by tall plants of every conceivable kind.

Even within a bed, containers showcase specimen plants.

Little pops of color make me smile.

This bed looks like a miniature forest of tiny succulents.

The biggest danger in this garden?  Falling in love with the wonderful plants and the delightful design.

New soil, mulch and plants in last week’s post means it’s time to move on to the other things on my garden to-do list.  At the top of the list?  Pots.

Every year, I vow not to plant so many pots.  The heat makes taking care of them unbelievably time consuming.  But they add so much to our patio space. 

So this year, I’ve thrown caution to the wind and actually gone out searching for more large pots to buy.  Crazy, I know.

In the meantime, this is what my patio looks like — a war zone!

 More pots! 

Untersetzers.  This is one of several words that I just think of in my native German.  I don’t even know what you call them in English! 

Online plant orders!

 This is my favorite pot so far — a dracena, potato vine, diamond frost euphorbia in the background and a hot pink variegated bougainvillea.

 This pot with only the amaryllis was given to me by a friend when she moved.  I added the plumeria (stick on the right – just now putting on a leaf) and a succulent, potato vine and in the back a burgundy curly-leafed basil.

The two giant pots back by the pool have mystic spires, Mexican honeysuckle (not showing yet), homestead verbena, sun coleus and a lemon ball succulent.

Have you planted your pots yet?