Elizabeth Benotti creates wonderful ceramic goods at her studio in Concord, NH. Her unique planters are some of our favorite products. Carefully crafted from porcelain and then hand painted and glazed, her work is stunning and unique. Hoping to bring back an appreciation for handmade goods and emphasize the importance of creating a strong feeling of home is what motivates Elizabeth. We had the pleasure of speaking with her and finding out more about her creative process and how she got started.
The weather has grown cold and we’re well into the season of staying indoors. During this time of year, I often look around my apartment at the few forlorn houseplants (I have horrible light) and wish that I could do more to “green up” my living space.
For the next two weeks, I will cover houseplant basics. As part of my preparation, I sat down with Mobee Weinstein, a Foreman at the Garden who has been working here for over 30 years. Mobee is an avid houseplant gardener. We discussed some of her favorite houseplants and the ones that she grows in her own home.
Houseplants are easy to grow as long as you are grounded in a basic understanding of three important factors: (1) the plants needs, (2) your particular home environment, and (3) your abilities as the guardian of these living creatures. Today we will cover the basics of what you need to know before you get started, focusing primarily on light and water.
Two large containers adorn the entrance out by Bedford Gate. Traditionally, we have used the narrow leaf fig (Ficus binnendijkii ‘Alli’) as the centerpiece for these containers. Our specimens are multi-stemmed with long, narrow, lance-shaped leaves. Ficus binnendijkii ‘Alli’ is not as fussy as the ubiquitous weeping fig, Ficus benjamina. It is more tolerant of low light levels and does not have a tendency to drop its leaves when moved.
Our Ficus binnendijkii ‘Alli’ specimens are terrific candidates to under-plant with annuals. In late spring we place the narrow leaf figs into larger pots that provide ample space for seasonal plantings.
The combination for this year’s summer display started with good intentions and then went awry. The errors that were made are common and instructive. We under-planted Ficus binnendijkii ‘Alli’ with the following: angel wings (Caladium ‘Miss Muffet’), English ivy (Hedera helix ‘Green Needle Point’), begonia (Begonia ‘Pink Giraffe’) and coleus (Solenostemon ‘Wasabi’).
In New York City, where space comes at a premium, it helps to live by the mantra “Great things come in small packages,” even when it comes to gardening. Container gardens, tree well plantings, and terrace gardens are the easiest way to add a small-scale garden to the average city apartment, and they can be beautiful, too.
Over the course of two sessions in March, Daryl Beyers showed his class how to get the most out of placing a few plants in a simple pot. The results were these charming, self-contained gardens, perfect for even the most space-starved New Yorker.
If you would like to try your hand at container gardening, the Garden’s Adult Education program is offering two special Saturday sessions in May! “All About Containers” is a daylong boot camp on May 4 in the Bronx and will cover all the basics of container gardening.
As a former Broadway performer, professional garden photographer, and writer, Ellen Zachos is a very talented NYBG instructor whose container gardening class comes alive with gorgeous slides and dynamic presentations.
Ellen’s career as a gardener began when she got her very first plant–rather than a bouquet–as an opening-night gift, after performing in a Florida dinner theater production of Fiddler on the Roof.
“It was a Spathyphyllum, an ordinary peace lily,” she says, “but to me it was wonderful. I was intrigued, and I had never grown anything. My desire for knowledge just took over. My apartment filled with houseplants and books.”
She went on to study Commercial Horticulture and Ethnobotany at NYBG. After receiving her certifications, she authored several gardening books and founded Acme Plant Stuff in 1997, a company that designs, installs, and maintains both interior and exterior gardens.
Mums and Japanese Anemones in Fall Flowers of Japan
We are celebrating the fall this year with Fall Flowers of Japan in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. As you walk into the Conservatory you are greeted by color, ranging from the blues and purples of gentians, to the autumnal bronzes, yellows, and reds of chrysanthemums.
Texture and form abound; the orchid-like flowers of toad lilies (Tricyrtis) are speckled, Japanese anemones (Anemone) feature cup-shaped flowers and fuzzy seed heads, and Japanese burnet (Sanguisorba) provide height with their burgundy bottle brush spires.
For the opening weekend I conducted a demonstration on how to recreate a little piece of Fall Flowers of Japan at home in the form of a fall container display or border. Today I am going to share some of my favorite plants for making a display of this nature with you.
Recycled drain pipes used as planters in the Hampshire (U.K.) Garden of Pauline Thomas
By now your garden should be ablaze with color. If it’s not, and you’re finding that you have unsightly gaps in your border, don’t panic! There is still plenty of time for an easy fix: Add a container display to your garden! Don’t limit your container plantings only to the patio though, containers are also a great way to jazz-up any dull or quiet beds or borders you might have.
An attractive container display starts with a good foundation–a good looking container. Many containers these days are made of synthetic materials like poly resin and fiberglass. These materials are often transformed into believable reproductions of classic containers. Find one that suits your gardening style.
Wooden planters on the New York balcony of Devin A. Brown
If you are in the market for a rustic looking container try wood, faux wood or faux stone. If you prefer a more elegant look, then invest in terra cotta, faux terra cotta, reconstituted stone, or faux cast iron. Artistic souls will welcome the stunning array of colorful glazed pots as well as colorful lightweight synthetic substitutes that seem to be available everywhere these days. A few years ago I fell madly in love with a fiberglass reproduction of a bronze container that looked durable as well as lavish.
Colorful pots full of succlents in the Dallas patio garden of Shawn Ashmore
Maintaining appropriate moisture levels can be a challenge when gardening in containers, particularly if you like to escape for a few days during the summer. As common sense would dictate, the larger the container, the easier it is to keep it well-watered. There are many self-watering containers or contraptions on the market that you can outfit your container with. They are essentially water reservoirs that hold the water in the bottom of the container and slowly release it into the mix.
Another viable option is to add some of water retaining polymers or hydrogels to your potting mix. These polymers grab water from the soil, expand as they hydrate, hold onto the moisture, and then release it when the surrounding potting medium starts to dry. Friends of mine who plant narrow window boxes swear by them. Two brands that are easy to find are Terra Sorb® and Soil Moist™.
Whether you are placing your container in the garden or on your patio it is always advisable to raise it up onto bricks, blocks or feet to allow for good drainage. Next week we will take a look at some candidates for filling your lovely new containers.
It’s still early yet, but time to start thinking about what we are going to plant in our containers this year. The catalogs have been out now for a while and we have had our chance to peruse what is new and exciting in the horticultural world.
The new options this year are a lot of fun and they are not shy. Ball Horticultural Company has come out with a series of three velvety black petunias that will knock your socks off – and yes – black means black.
Petunia ‘Black Velvet’ is the pure black petunia that is a soft and sensuous as it name suggests. ‘Phantom’ and ‘Pinstripe’ are two variations on the theme. The former has a bright yellow star pattern that is offset by the black background while the latter has the same pattern in a smaller muted cream and bleeding pink color.
The grower reminds us the ‘everything goes with black’ – and it should. These are three very adaptable container companions. They have a nice compact mounding habit – 8-12 inches in height and spread. They should be widely available this year. Burpee is selling the all black petunia under the name ‘Black Cat’.
If black is the color of the year – you might also be interested in Calibrachoa Superbells ‘Blackberry Punch’. The flowers are magenta but the large throat on this plant is velvet black. ‘Blackberry Punch’ is a trailer that grows 12 inches high and wide yet will spill over your container and trail up to 36 inches.
Last week we looked dwarf conifers as container plants. Single containers – particularly with a small to medium sized tree or shrub can happily fill a corner on a patio. Sometimes, however, they look a little lonely, particularly if they don’t have enough pizzazz or weight to hold up on their own.
Many container plants look better when clustered in groups to form miniature landscapes. There is great latitude in how a homeowner can approach this task. The containers could all be the same giving a uniform look or you could go for a more eclectic arrangement of colorful and expressive pots. One way will give a formal feel to the arrangement while the other will give it an ‘arts and crafts’ feel.
You likewise have endless possibilities with your plant choices. Are you trying to create the feel of a miniature woodland on your patio, replicate a foundation planting or have a foray into a mixed perennial garden? It is important to have a vision of what you would like to create before you start selecting your container plants.
Anything Goes—and Grows—in Potting Up Vegetables for Small Spaces
Francisca Coelho is the Vivian and Edward Merrin Associate Vice President for Glasshouses and Exhibitions.
You may not be aware of this, but every plant you have grown in a pot, box, can, tub, or other vessel is an example of container gardening. Your potted houseplants, summer pots of annuals, and hanging baskets all represent gardening in containers. In the tropics where I grew up, people lined their front steps with many colorful, painted containers of every shape and size. They filled them with beautiful, tropical, flowering exotics and with plants used for food and medicine. Versatility is the hallmark of the container gardener!
In front of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, as part of The Edible Garden, I am growing an assortment of tasty vegetables in containers. The design is simple-a mix of semicircles and straight lines with pots ranging in size from 14 to 36 inches in diameter.
The steps leading up to the elevated area are lined with pots filled with Tumbling Tom tomatoes, mammoth red cabbages, purple kohlrabi and kale, ornamental trailing sweet potato vines, and marigolds, included to ward off unwelcomed pests and to encourage hungry bees to pollinate my edible delights.
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