Attleboro Garden Club Lecture
“I just want to let you know how much I enjoyed your presentation last night in Attleboro for the Attleboro Garden Club.
You were the most inspirational lecturer I have ever heard regarding gardening. I can’t wait to do my containers this year. You gave some awesome tips for this sometimes very stressful job I do every year. I only wish I could take you along for support. Lol. But, I will bring my notes with me and try to follow your ideas.
Plan, color scheme, stay focused, container, soil, texture/contrast.
So, so informative and helpful, I can’t say enough.
Again, thank you very much and I hope to attend another lecture by you someday. You have my dream job.”
Carolyn Bosh, Attleboro, MA
The Captured Garden has spoken at many shows and garden clubs on topics ranging from container gardens to urban gardening to garden design.
On The Road Again
I speak at many different garden clubs during the year and one of the benefits is that I get to travel around New England.
Every trip reveals something that inspires me, whether vineyards in Rhode Island, mountains in Vermont, or beaches on Cape Cod. Just last week I had the privilege of speaking at the Jamestown Garden Club in beautiful Jamestown, Rhode Island. The house where I lectured was right on the water and I thought again how wonderfully that environment, with its sea breezes, lends itself to the gracefulness of ornamental grasses.
Read More»Orange Punch – Container Gardens Match Beds
A client’s recent party had us feeling citrus-y.
It’s always nice to complement what’s blooming in the beds.
Container gardens can turn front doors, back decks and intimate patios into more welcoming places. We have created hundreds of custom container gardens for clients throughout New England. Your empty urn, window box or container is an opportunity to see what we can do for you. It will always be beautiful, never typical. We promise.
Ever Faithful Gardeners
Help us to be ever faithful gardeners of the spirit,
who know that without darkness, nothing comes to birth,
and without light, nothing flowers.
~~ Mary Sarton
Contain Yourself
Did you know that, in addition to residential clients, The Captured Garden has many commercial clients as well?
Having commercial clients comes with its own unique set of challenges. We are tasked with creating beautiful one-of-a-kind window boxes or containers that must look good 24/7. On top of that, they need to stand up to an often tough urban environment and lack of regular watering.
One of our favorite commercial clients is Pine Straw in Wellesley, and more recently, Waban. Pine Straw features a great collection of items that you don’t see everywhere from clothing and jewelry to decorations and home goods. I’ll admit it’s often hard to plant outside because I am distracted by all the cool stuff I see in the windows! Despite a tough environment, we often find the window boxes at Pine Straw are the best-looking in the neighborhood. Hats off to Tracy Cranley and her crew for doing such a great job!
Why not visit PineStraw and check out The Captured Garden’s work yourself?
I had so much fun creating containers last year that I am doing it again. “Contain Yourself” is a mini-demo where I will plant some of the neat containers at the shop (think galvanized metal…sigh). Pick up some container gardening tips and enjoy some wine and cheese at the same time. Sounds like a win-win, right?
3 Tips for Container Garden Success
Your door mat may say “Welcome” but what are your container gardens saying?
Whether they sit at the front door or mark the entrance to the driveways these are the ambassadors that really welcome guests to your home. At least they should. Of course, we have all seen container gardens that say “I’m overwhelmed”, “I’m tired” or even worse…”stay away!” Now I am not blaming anyone; we are all busy people: time-pressed and energy-starved. Our intentions are good but then life gets in the way. Rather than giving up on container gardening, which is my first love (alright maybe second after Scott Weaver in first grade), let me give you some tips to make container gardening success a bit easier.
3 Tips for Container Garden Success
1: Start with a large pot.
Most of my containers are between 18”-20” in diameter. Same goes for window boxes. Make sure they are at least 8” deep and wide. A large container means greater soil volume so plants will not dry out as quickly so there’s less watering for you. While you may be tempted to keep the water in the pot by not drilling drainage holes, don’t do it. Your plant roots will rot and you’re back to square one. Avoid terra cotta pots. The porous material is great for Mediterranean type plants (think rosemary, lavender), but it practically dries out when you turn your back and we are going for less maintenance, not more, right? Gardener’s Supply in Vermont has a great selection of planters, even some that are self-watering.
2: Choose the right plant for your location.
Sounds sensible but I have seen too many sun-loving geraniums limping along on a shady porch. Putting sun-lovers in shady spots and shade-lovers in sunny spots will not make for happy plants and you will have to “baby” your containers to maintain them and who has time for that?
3: Focus on foliage.
I am a huge fan of all-foliage containers. Deadheading, the process of removing spent flowers to encourage re-blooming, is relaxing to some people. Not me. Nothing says “Sit back and enjoy that glass of wine” like a container that needs no deadheading. A container of foliage plants will look as beautiful in August as it did in June. If you insist on flowers, focus on those that require little deadheading, or are self-cleaning like bacopa, lantana, or calibrachoa (million bells). And include great foliage plants like coleus or heuchera among the bloomers. That way when those flowering plants take a break (which for me is typically right before a big party mid-summer) you will still have something pretty to look at.
By using my three simple tips, you are sure to have container gardens that will welcome guests to your home this summer.
You may not even need the welcome mat!
Winter Plant Spotlight – Dogwood Shrub
Many people are familiar with the beautiful spring-flowering dogwood tree (cornus kousa). Fewer are aware of the wonderful attributes of the dogwood shrub (cornus alba, cornus sericea).
This four-season shrub is useful in every landscape.
In the spring it’s covered with white flowers which are followed by a bluish tinted fruit in summer.
In fall the leaves can turn a dusty maroon.
But it is in winter that this shrub shines.
Bare stems are either vivid red or yellow and brighten the winter landscape. The cultivar ‘Cardinal’ is one of my favorite varieties for its brilliant red/orange stems.
Cut back 1/3 of dogwood branches every year as the most beautiful color occurs on newer stems.
A Perennial Favorite – Daffodils
Thinking of planting a perennial favorite? Here are a few tips.
Do: Plant daffodils where they will get at least 6 hours of full sun even after trees leaf out. Sun on the leaves will provide energy for next year’s flowers.
Do: Plant in well-drained soil. Daffodils hate wet feet and will tell you so by dying.
Do: Fertilize very lightly with an organic low-nitrogen fertilizer in early spring as shoots are starting to emerge.
Do: Try some new or even heirloom varieties. One of my favorites is a cream-colored double called ‘Bridal Crown’, shown here. Plant it near an entryway – its fragrance will knock your socks off.
Do: Buy bulbs from a reputable source. Bulbs need to be harvested and thoroughly dried before shipping, ideally that would make them available in September. A retail calendar that insists they show up in August should make you suspicious that they may not have cured long enough.
Don’t: Make the mistake of planting the bulb upside down. The pointed end goes up.
Don’t: Cut, braid or otherwise mutilate the leaves after flowering. Yes, it looks bad but the leaves need to capture as much energy as they can from the sun to bloom well next year. Wait at least 8 weeks after blooming to cut back. I like to plant daffodils among hostas; as the hostas grow their emerging leaves will hide the yellowing foliage.
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