Hey there! How are you all doing? You know how some weeks are better than others? Well, last week was not the best for me and my family. I don't really want to get into the particulars because I am not one to share a lot of my personal life but, suffice to say, it was a week of loss and sadness. We are slowly moving on from the sorrow and grasping onto joy but, sometimes you have to be real and tell it like it is. Life can be hard at times.
Part of the moving on for me was to look forward to decorating for the fall. In this instance, it brought me to filling up a new container with fall plants. I am happiest when I am creating and didn't realize just how much this planter would change my overall perspective concerning my back deck décor until it was done. It made all the other flower boxes and planters on my deck look a bit anemic to be honest and gives me a reason to do more creating.
As the finished product revealed itself, I thought it might be nice to share the process with you and also include the flower recipe for this particular planter.
Since the planters I had on hand were either being used or were completely faded and gross, I went to my local Lowes and purchased a new flower pot. This one was 14" tall and 13.5-14" in diameter.
I threw some old empty soda bottles in the bottom of the pot to make it less heavy and then filled it three-quarters of the way full with potting soil, also from Lowes. Filling it 3/4's of the way up allows you to play with the flower placement and lets you fill in with soil around the plants more easily.
I played around with the plants and determined how I felt they made the best presentation.
In the back I planted the Blue Switch Grass-Northwind Panicum Virgatum. A tall grass was needed for the overall aesthetic and this one is actually a perennial. It was the only tall grass I could find in the height I wanted. The cost was $12.99, which is much more than I paid for the annuals I used. The good thing is that I can plant it in the ground after this planter has gone by and hopefully I will have another perennial grass growing in my garden next spring. Win, win!
In front of the tall grass I placed the fountain grass and the Jade Princess Millet. The millet is the vibrant green plant in the pictures. This millet seems to be a new favorite at the garden centers in my area and I became a fast fan. I love the color!
To the left, backside of the planter I placed the Pennisetum Rubrium. Supposedly, it will grow pretty white fluffy flowers eventually. In the front of the grasses I planted snapdragon, ornamental pepper and orange pansy. There were seven plants in all.
I loved that the ornamental pepper flowed naturally over the side of the planter. I had looked for a "spiller" to place in the arrangement but, was unable to find one for some reason so I was happy when the ornamental pepper provided that element in the end.
Once this planter was finished, I knew I had to step up the look of the rest of the back deck. I went out today with my daughter, Brittany, and grandson, Finn, to purchase more fall flowers. The next trip will be for buying pumpkins, gourds and cornstalks but, this was a good start. The whole day of being together was that "moving towards joy" thing that I spoke about earlier.
Here is the flower recipe for my planter. The perennial grass at $12.99 per pot was by far the most expensive plant I purchased. The other plants ranged in price between $3.99 and $5.99 per pot. The plants all together were around $42.00 without considering sales tax. Of course, the pot and soil added to the overall cost of the project but, if you have a pot that you like and it is not being used, you can save yourself some money that way.
I hope you have found this information to be helpful and that you feel inspired to beautify your
landscape for the fall, as well.
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