Last year I created a mixed display of mainly succulents in pots on the top patio. I really liked the effect that was achieved and had so much fun preparing the display. Inspired by that I decided to do something similar again. This time bigger, better, more colourful, more vibrant, and more dramatic.
I love it! I'm in love with it!! And I really, really enjoyed making the display and looking at it!
Bright colours are my thing, not so much from the plants (especially as we're both mainly foliage gardeners) but it's something I can achieve with pots.
Before starting the display earlier in the year I wanted to tone down the 'whimsical touches' of last years display, and just rely mainly on the colourful mix of pots and their succulent plantings for dramatic effect. But as I prepared the display with much less of the "garden tat" I thought it was not that fun. I even missed the presence of some of them especially the elephant pots. So they came back out again and have also kept the flying fish on the tree, even adding a cage of elephants to that lot.
Glazed pottery and earthenware are something I'm obviously in to especially ones that are bright, with interesting patterns, shapes, and texture. Even earthenware that are meant to be for the kitchen I've used as garden accessories where appropriate.
Remember the raised bed with palms that we were doing a couple of months ago? Here it is now with the brickwork and raised bed itself painted white. Blue sandstone was also used for edging and green slate for mulch to tie it in with the raised beds on our koi pond area. This bed ties the top patio in with the koi pond area.
Project for next year however is the paving. We're thinking of using small blue sandstone blocks in a herringbone pattern.
Let's take a closer look at some of the plants on display (and pots of course)...
And the view of the top patio as you approach it from the two main arms of the garden...
Having fun, that's what it's all about!
Mark :-)
This gardening blog follows our journey as we create our Tropical and Exotic themed garden. We hope you'll enjoy the journey as much as we do. We started our Exotic Garden in 2005 and this site will show its development, as well as our travels, both abroad and within the UK to gardens, nurseries and friends.
The plants! The pots! The way you combine them and tie them into the various areas of your garden! Seriously, these are magazine/book-worthy displays.
ReplyDeleteIf you ever visit us, I think I will have to blind-fold you the entire time you're here so you won't see how amateurish my garden looks.
Oh my Gerhard, your garden is stunning and inspirational! You're far too humble :))
DeleteFantastic.
ReplyDeleteSuperb. More about design and arrangement than plants. You could stuff anything in those pots and it would still look brilliant.
ReplyDeleteA few of the pots I sort of regret planting something in them and tempted to display them in the house instead....
DeleteI'm so glad you decided to add the whimsical stuff again. I love the elephants. I'm all for the whimsy. I have a pot display on my front porch, nowhere near as dramatic as yours, but I have fun putting it together. I love using unusual kitchen containers too. I have a couple of plants in old colanders.
ReplyDeleteUsing unusual containers and kitchenalia in the garden can be such good fun, and the colander sounds good, can imagine them as great hanging baskets too :) toned down the whimsy but couldn't be totally without them, especially the elephants!
DeleteWowza! Exciting and gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteWow!!!! marvelous work!! the pots are beautiful, and the plants, and the garden! and the cat!
ReplyDeleteThanks Lisa! Cats will be pleased as well :)
DeleteWhat a big impact in a small space! I particularly love your table in the second photo. Do I detect a little Portland Fling influence in some of your choices?
ReplyDeleteThanks Helen and definitely! Very inspired after that trip, and have learned to let loose a lot more afterwards :)
DeleteWell done! So easy to just do the same thing each year but you've managed to make a great display even better. The small pots placed in the top of the large pot is an inspiration.
ReplyDeleteThanks Shirley! I didn't know what to put in it so just used it as a display platform for now :)
DeleteI'm gobsmacked!
ReplyDeleteThat made me smile!!
DeleteIt really is amazing. I especially love the area with the white wall as backdrop. It highlights the plants and pots.
ReplyDeleteNothing like a plain backdrop to highlight things!
DeleteWow, what an assortment! It's a great assembly - while the individual pots and their contents each have their own personality, they also look great as a group, like a choir with a mix of soloists each adding dimension with their own special voices. And I love the elephants!
ReplyDeleteThat's a lovely way of putting it, thank you!
DeleteI could spend an hour on this post. Your variegated echeveria ('Compton's?) is pupping like mad! And the color on that coleus, wow. What an amazing collection. Glad to see the elephant pots back too ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks Denise! It is Comptons and it seems to love all the extra moisture it's getting.
DeleteWow! Just amazing. I love it, especially the pots containing a collection of tiny pots. I'll come back and study this splendid collection of plants and pots often!
ReplyDeleteThanks Peter :)
DeleteOutstanding! Planters, plants... combinations... I tell you - it looks RICH! Bravo!
ReplyDeleteThank you Tanya!
DeleteThanks Loree! Yes there's more containers this year, I think we have more of them at the moment than plants to put in them...
ReplyDeleteAround half will stay outdoors all year, some of the bigger ones will be shifted for winter but mainly just the small ones :)
That is just lush! I love it! So colourful and beautifully displayed - you're giving those guys at Great Dixter a run for their money. I can't begin to think how many hours you spent doing that - and where on earth do they all go in the colder weather? It's wonderful splash of summer, thanks for the brightness and greenery!
ReplyDeleteA pleasure Caro, and thank you! Around half will remain outdoors all year :)
DeleteGreat plant and pot pairing! The white walls make it look even more tropical and the perfect backdrop for you theme. I love the table! Cheers
ReplyDeleteFun, and with a beautiful result! I too, am a big fan of the small bowls in a larger pot. And I love how all the large great planters contrast your fab foliage. Endless wonderful vignettes in this post - thank you!
ReplyDeleteThanks Anna! Was thinking of joining Wednesday vignettes soon...
DeleteFabulous collection of pots and plants a pair of very talented gardeners , well done lads
ReplyDeleteThanks Carol!
DeleteI can't decide which gene is dominant: collector or designer. Maybe it's a tie, because they work together so smoothly.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ricki! Definitely a collector, flattered with the designer :)
DeleteWow. Too much to comment on except to say: 1) painting the bricks white was a great choice! 2) I can't imagine where all 200 (surely) of those pots will go come winter... 3) That urn with the vertical branch-like lines is a beauty!
ReplyDeleteThanks Alan! really pleased with the wall, and nearly all of those in big pots will stay out all year round. Love that urn as well!
DeleteDefinitely made me smile today! I love your use of all different kind and color of pots together. And color is so important in a garden. Your photos and garden are so inspirational!
ReplyDeleteThanks Candice! Love the colour, really perks one up!
DeleteWhat everyone else said. Simply fabulous.
ReplyDeleteThanks Gail!
DeleteWow that is a great collection of both plants and pots!
ReplyDeleteThanks Nic!
DeleteI don't see cacti in your magnificent displays?
ReplyDeleteThanks Roger! Trying not to get into Cacti at the moment as it's so easy to get in to and storage space is a premium. It's a slippery slope!
DeleteSpectacular! You have created extraordinary displays that truly complement the foliage in your garden. I especially like the pale green pot with veins on its side, adjacent to the orange plant (coleus?). Also love the orange candles!
ReplyDeleteThanks Debs! It is a coleus :)
DeleteHoly Smokes. Fabulosity: You are on top of it. I want to be like you when I grow up. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteThat made me laugh Patricia, thank you :))
DeleteWow! I realize most of them are succulents or otherwise xeric plants, but I still can't imagine keeping all those containers watered--I struggle with just a few. Looks wonderful.
ReplyDelete