Potted plants – A Key to Summer’s Success
Even if you don’t have a green thumb or a house and garden, you can still enjoy a “garden” of your own with potted plants in a window box or on a patio, terrace, balcony or deck. As with plants you might place in the ground, the key here is, as they say in real estate, location, location, location.
Because New York City is now the northernmost humid subtropical city – a reclassification from its humid continental days, thanks in part to climate change – it is open to a greater array of plants, as is lower Westchester County and Fairfield County, the latter especially enjoying the mitigating influence of the Long Island Sound. (Northern Westchester remains cooler.) As you make your selections, keep your locale in mind.
Summer, of course, will bring high heat and humidity all over our region. Consider whether the area you’ll be using for your potted garden lies in sun, shade or, probably, a mix of both. Now be honest with yourself: Are you the hanging-plant-from-the-supermarket kind of gardener, or will you be going the whole nine yards with planters and potting soil? Do you have a color scheme in mind or are you looking for a burst of many colors?
Whatever your style, everyone can use these tips for potted landscape glory:
Include annuals like Nemesia, for a variety of seasonal colors, and returning perennials like the classic geranium. Another crowd pleaser – the full-proof Calibrachoa, a mini-petunia-like gem that comes in myriad hues and is hardy enough for hot and cool temps. Petunias themselves are another great choice that will take you from spring to fall, but don’t be afraid of tropical beauties like hibiscus and canna lilies. (We ourselves are partial to pale pink New Guinea impatiens, though they’re a tricky garden star, doing best in warm, humid conditions. So make sure to keep these watered.)
Drainage is your friend. Check that your planters have feet or sit on a stand or otherwise off the ground so that water can drain from them and the roots won’t rot.
Oh, deer! If Bambi and his pals are frequent visitors, you’ll want to consider something deer-resistant like spiky, jewel-colored gomphrena globosa, also called globe amaranth, an annual.
Remember our pollinators. Milkweed, herbs and other plants – even the humble dandelion – are good sources of nutrients for bees and butterflies, so necessary for pollination. However, what nature gives, it also takes: Milkweed is poisonous to pets, so if you have small children and animals, you’ll want to careful in the botanicals you display.
With a little thought and planning, however, you can create a “concrete jungle” in the best sense of the phrase.
Tags: potted outdoor plants, terraces, patios, decks, window boxes, New York City, humid subtropical, humid continental, Westchester County, Fairfield County, Long Island Sound, global amaranth, deer, butterflies, milkweed, canna lilies, New Guinea impatiens, petunias, Nemesia, hibiscus,