Beautiful container plantings

Seems like I love container planting more and more as time goes by.  I love being creative and taking inspiration from other gardeners to come up with my own creations.  

Although there are many wonderful websites to inspire us, my latest favorite is Fine Gardening Magazine's website.  Of course, the website is my photo source!

Today's inspiration is a glimpse of Chanticleer Garden.

Looks like this gorgeous and unique container is more of a mini raised bed, put together with pieces of slate, cut in various sizes.  My idea is to make the pieces made of concrete . . . the forms would be super easy to make.  

Two of them placed diagonally would be awesome looking!  Wouldn't it?  I would love to see this exact design on a larger scale, placed diagonally, as the focal point of a front yard.  Awesome!  We are looking for ideas for raised beds as an alternative to way too much grass in the front yard and this design would be great.

Color variations are endless by using concrete tints or by painting them.  Anyway, love the design!  Who knows?  We may gather the energy to get this project done after the huge tree stump comes down!

Want to see more from Fine Gardening's article and many

 more ideas for container planting?  Click here

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Cranberry Hibiscus

We have officially started working in the carport jungle getting it cleaned up and organized.

The basil, tomato and pepper seedlings are thriving and we are so excited about getting our vegetable and herb gardens going.  For color in the garden, I have planted rainbow coleus, red salvia and marigold seeds this week.

Today we cut down a pesky cranberry hibiscus that came up out of nowhere in a pile of leaves on the carport . . . in the way!  The plan is to do a mass planting of them in the front yard since they thrive in the full sun and other than keeping them pruned to avoid a leggy plant, they are really maintenance free.  I cut the plant up into a ton of pieces and got the propagation process going.  I've never tried propagating them before, but after doing some research online, they seem to be a very hardy plant which propagates easily.  I also gathered many seed pods that I plan on getting started in the next couple of days.

Since we are gardening on a tight budget, the more plants we can use from existing plants, the better.

Want to know more about the Cranberry Hibiscus?

  Here are some links:

A previous post about these gorgeous plants from this blog.

A plant guide and discussion about this plant from Dave's Garden.

All about the Cranberry Hibiscus plant from the University of Florida.


Are you getting your hands
 dirty in the garden yet?

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Elegant Garden

The elegance of this garden immediately caught my attention when I was browsing through Fine Gardening's garden photo section for some garden inspiration.  

Photo: Courtesy of Barbara Nuffer via Fine Gardening

Since our property is so large and we really don't want to be a slave to the garden as I have been in the past, the general thinking has been to design raised beds around large paths.  Barbara's garden in upstate New York is exactly what has been going through my mind.  Click on the Fine Gardening link to read the entire article featuring her garden and more photos.

An excerpt from the article . . .

"This garden is a raised bed. The shape is a 20-foot-diameter circle with a gravel path at ground level leading to a fountain in the center of the circle, and continuing to a bench. The outer perimeter of the garden is a 2-foot-tall stone wall. The interior wall is pressure treated 1 x 6s cut into 3-foot lengths and sunk into the ground 12 inches. Since portions of this wall are curved, we used metal strapping nailed to the back of the pieces of wood to hold it in place. They are slanted slightly back towards the bed. The shape is really pretty in winter as the sun sets behind it. A natural stream is down the hill behind the garden so you hear running water as a backdrop.

We lined the bed with black plastic with some drainage holes punched in it. My soil mixture included 6 cubic foot bags of coarse texture vermiculite. We mixed this with potting soil that contained lots of peat. This was suitable because I was planning to use acid-loving plants. We also mixed in two parts of topsoil. The proportions were one part vermiculite to one part potting soil to two parts topsoil. The bed was well moistened and mulched with finely ground cedar bark."

Awesome inspiration!

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Raised Beds

Need some inspiration for your spring garden?

Click here for an awesome gallery of raised beds!

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Bamboo accents and incredible lighting

This yard reminds me that you can decorate the outdoors as you do the indoors.  Love the uplights to highlight the awesome bamboo accents.  Love this yard!

Click here to see more photos.


Photo: Courtesy of Susan Wawrzynowicz via Fine Gardening

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We are gearing up for the tomato growing season and waiting for our seeds to arrive in the mail.  Although we should have started growing the seedlings mid-January, it is better late than never!

As the Captain and I have done research on growing tomato plants, I have been updating my tomato page for my website, DonitaWorld.com.

Check out my updated tomato page if you are growing your own tomatoes this season.  I love visiting websites to get inspiration and great tips on how to grow the best tomatoes possible.  

Click on the graphic to go there . . .

For Florida gardeners and those who live in similar

climates, check out my Florida page too.

I'm so excited about getting my hands in the dirt again!!

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Container gardening in the landscape

Love the simplicity of the container plants in this gorgeous Tennessee garden.

Fine Gardening has featured Jeff Calton's beautiful garden, which is a mix of landscaped areas with lush lawns, trees, lots of blooms and container gardens.

Click here to go to the article . . .


Photo: Courtesy of Jeff Calton via Fine Gardening

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February Bromeliads

The massive plantings of bromeliads with their red blooms provide a burst of color in this gorgeous tropical scene.  The water garden runs along a pond that is complete with fish, turtles and different types of birds who love to hang out in this area.  Do you blame them?  

This is one of the most serene and beautiful scenes at Busch Gardens!

We will get more photos from this area next time we visit!

The landscapers at Busch Gardens have cleverly used a mass planting of similar bromeliad plants in yellow and red to really provide that pop of color, bordering them with another mass planting of a variegated variety.  They bring excitement to an otherwise green raised bed.

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Tropical Plants in Containers and Raised Beds

Love the mix of bromeliads with other tropicals in these container plantings at Busch Gardens Tampa, where the grounds are in colorful full bloom.  Spring!!!

The topiaries are gorgeous mixed in the tropical plant beds!

Love the statues mixed in the landscaping!

We took lots of photos!

Theme parks and parks are awesome places to get inspiration for your garden!

I'll be adding a new page to my website soon for photo albums.

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Claude Monet's garden in Giverny

Photo from

Claude Monet's garden in Giverny

Courtesy of Maria Fleming via Fine Living Magazine

Fruit trees don't have to stand alone!  

I love the mass planting at the base of these fruit trees  . . . looks like impatiens to me, a plant that I have used extensively in my garden to liven up boring spots in the shade.

Find a flowering plant that works in your climate and fill in those boring spots in your garden!

Check out more photos of Claude Monet's spectacular garden . . . click here.

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