Planting the Urns on My Summer House Terrace
I love beautiful ornamental urns filled with lush, green plants.
As many of you may know, I have a rather sizable collection of tropical specimens at my Bedford, New York farm. During the winter, they’re all stored in a special greenhouse. Once warm weather arrives, they are brought out for display - some go to my home in Maine, some to my residence in East Hampton, and the remaining plants are placed in various locations here at Cantitoe Corners. Recently, my gardeners Ryan McCallister and Gavin Curran filled several large planters with philodendrons, Mexican fan palms and Alocasias on the terrace behind my Summer House. They’re all so easy to plant and maintain - they’ll look wonderful all season long.
Enjoy these photos.
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- This large terrace looks out onto my sunken garden behind the Summer House. It is a great place to display tropical plants that do best in indirect sunlight.
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- I acquired seven of these gorgeous faux bois containers a couple years ago. They will look great potted up with big leaf specimens like philodendrons.
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- This split-leaf philodendron, Philodendron Selloum, is native to South America. It belongs to the group of philodendron plants that are among the most common of houseplants for their ability to thrive without much maintenance.
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- To preserve these more porous and fragile faux bois planters, Ryan and Gavin keep the philodendrons in plastic pots – they just need to move them into slightly smaller containers to fit. Doing this will also make it easier to remove the plants next autumn when these tropical specimens go back into the greenhouse for the winter.
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- Here is one of the philodendrons after it is removed from the bigger container.
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- These plants have glossy, heart-shaped or rounded leathery leaves that develop deep clefts and oblong perforations as they grow older. The leaves may be as much as 18-inches wide on foot-long leafstalks.
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- Gavin cuts away the old, outer roots to stimulate new growth and promote good aeration. He cuts about two inches off the bottom to accommodate the new pot.
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- Gavin also scarifies the root ball.
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- Next, Gavin and Ryan add soil to the pot, leaving some of the roots exposed. Many varieties of Philodendron produce aerial roots which aid in climbing trees and to provide supplemental nourishment.
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- These aerial roots can be trained to climb or directed into the soil. The tough roots grow downward from the thick stem and will root if they touch the ground.
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- Here are Gavin and Ryan carefully placing the philodendron into the faux bois pot.
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- The faux bois pots are tall, so a two-foot section of a tree trunk is placed inside to keep the plant at an appropriate height. Ryan also places pieces of wood between the stump and the bottom of the pot as well as between the pot and the stump for good drainage.
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- Here’s Gavin carrying over another philodendron to its container.
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- Meanwhile, Ryan prepares to plant these young Alocasias. Alocasia ‘Mayan Mask’ has bold, upright leaves and strong, sturdy stems when mature.
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- Ryan uses a professional growing mix containing Canadian sphagnum peat moss, bark, perlite, vermiculite, dolomitic limestone, and a long-lasting wetting agent.
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- Soon after, the potted young Alocasias are placed into another faux bois pot for display.
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- Next, Ryan cuts some black garden cloth to line another pot.
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- This pot is one of four I purchased several years ago from Lunaform, a pottery studio in West Sullivan, Maine where they create extraordinary garden planters and urns – many of them reminiscent of vessels found in ancient Greek and Roman gardens. http://www.lunaform.com/
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- These are called Thuya bowls – they look so handsome here on this terrace. Ryan uses the cloth to protect the bowl’s interior. Ryan is also using my Non-Slip All Purpose Gloves from my collection at QVC. Be sure to tune in all day tomorrow when I am there selling the day’s Special Value item!
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- This is a Mexican fan palm. We grew several from seeds I got years ago. These plants are growing so excellently. Mexican fan palms are tall palm trees native to northern Mexico.
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- The two fill the rest of the pot with medium. The Mexican fan palm likes full sun to partial shade and well-draining sand to loam type soil.
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- And then Ryan sprinkles osmocote around the base of each plant.
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- Osmocote particles are known as prills. The beige shell on the prill coats a core of nutrients – nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The resin-coating is made from linseed oil and as the plant’s root system takes-up nutrition from the soil, it also takes up the needed nutrients from the osmocote.
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- These Mexican fan palms are perfect for these pots – I love the rounded crown of the fan-shaped, dark green fronds.
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- Here is one side with the faux bois pots all planted up. They look so pretty here on the terrace.
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- Here they are after a good soaking rain. Container plants are an easy way to dress up any terrace or patio.
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- And looking out into the sunken garden, everything is so beautiful, lush and green. Just a few more plants to pot up, but the terrace looks great. This garden is tucked inside a tall hedge of American boxwood. And the main focal point is the great old ginkgo tree at the back of the space. Soon, this garden will burst with colorful lilies to accent the bold green foliage – I can’t wait.
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