OOS - it's cool to find someone else interested in gardening in So. Westchester. I find remarkably few people garden in the area. What's your favorite nursery around here? I like Nabel's in Mamaroneck. Putting plants together in a container is like flower arranging with a moving target - how can I economically and easily keep a series of mixed containers in continuous display? Maybe I'm over-thinking this (it wouldn't be the first time), but I practice intensive cultivation on my vegetable beds, why not in my containers? My interest in mixing annuals and perennials is in part because I bought a bunch of dwarf bulbs on sale and need to justify it to my wife ("it's an investment, sweetheart!") and because I enjoy seed starting annuals and need a new project once everything's planted in the veg garden. Redneck and Gary, I think what you do is closer to my goals than the style OOS uses, since I'm interested in a mix of plants in a series of larger planters (although OOS's backyard filled with a variety of individual containers is maybe the same thing on a larger scale). But you're both from more temperate zones - I don't even think about winter for my outdoor containers (although maybe I can overwinter some ivies and such in the house). I love the idea Redneck proposes of using ferns (I love ferns but haven't ever grown them), but most of my containers are in full sun so they would probably bake. BTW, yes, they are dwarf cannas. I guess utlimately what the original post was trying to ask is whether the best way to maintain a larger mixed container is to plant it up all in one go with enough foresight that it looks good for 4-6 months or whether you should constantly be moving new plants in and out as I do in my veg beds. And if you're going to move new plants in and out, do you start in a series of smaller containers and move them to new containers when they're at their peak? With either approach, what plants work well? It's interesting that everyone named perennials for the most part - I had envisioned more reliance on annuals. I'm going to follow up with a separate post asking for ideas for good container annuals started from seed...

My wife and I went through a Haworthia phase, but it didn't last since most of our nice pots got rained on by all the junky trees we had overhead and over time half the plants rotted out... I still have a few hundred plants, but I can't for the life of me identify even half of them anymore. Here are a few of the pots that did and didn't work This pot was a wife creation and had several nice plants in it... but we have this Acacia baileyana tree in the yard that rains tons of sticky pollen a gazillion little leaves. We really needed to get some shade cloth for these plants. This pot has something else in it now. Tried to keep this pot in sun room, but despite two sky lites and lots of windows, all plants got severely etiolated and then ... well, you know Nice pot my wife put together... actually did well for a seveal years, but in an area under shade cloth and again, too little light after a while this pot did great for 3 years and then several of the Haworthias just over grew all the others... still have it, but it only has 3 huge plants in it now Still have this pot, but is has suffered from raining leaves and sap as well here it is 4 years later this pot was one of the best... wife's creation... sadly the wood rotted and then so did the plants (or many of them.. a lot of them are now planted about the yard and doing well). can't find the early photos of this pot... was a triple decker thing and had some relatively common, cheaper Haworthias.. and now they live in a shadier area (things grow in the yard) and are super green and sort of leggy due to low light.. .but it's still there another creation we no longer have (no clue where this one went) this is one of two razor rock pots and these are extremely well draining pots.. both still exist 4 years later and the plants are still pretty healthy... this one now is in a tad too much sun and this one is in too much shade, but the plants in it are doing well, probably because such good drainage This pot is our best creation (wife's again)... still looks great to this day and it is in the perfect spot in the yard where gets a lot of light, but no direct sun light and no icky pollen or leaves from overhead trees. I didn't upload a photo of the other side, but it is nice as well

Norma, lol, you are hilarious.. Sux = succulents..sorry, I shouldn't be so lax, just type out the darn word. How did you get away with typing bast*** in your post? Does GW not consider this word vulgarity? A few wks ago, I typed the word bi*ch in a post, after clicking submit, a window opened warning that word wasn't permitted. IMO, b**ch, 'like bast**d' have a few definitions, one meaning a female dog..yet it was denied. hmm.. Regarding parrots/macaws, Citosa pretty much explained. The last 15 years, I bred Cockatiels. Are you familiar with this bird? They're larger than parakeets, but smaller than, a breadbox..lol, j/k, I don't know which bird to compare to..Let's say from head to tip of tail, they're at least 9". Some a little larger, others smaller. On top of a cockatiels' head is a crest. Did you ever see the bird on the show Barreta/Baretta..sp is incorrect. Baretta has a Cockatoo..if you ever saw this bird, you might recall he too has a crest..the crest sometimes stands erect, especially when a bird is excited or frightened. Anyway, when we bred cockatiels, (not a big business, more of a hobby and to help people who couldn't afford big-time prices.) One pair, description. Male/common gray..his body, mostly gray, some white, gray and white wings..cheek, circles of bright orange. Female/white-face-pearl..no orange..mottled gray and white from head to bottom. Cockatiels can lay anywhere from 1-10 eggs..ours averaged 4-6.. Per every clutch/eggs laid, 1-2 were all yellow babies..some had orange cheecks, others were w/o. The remining chicks mostly looked like dad, but every so often, one resembled mom. My other pair are white face pied/male, and white face pearl/female..Gray babies are without orange.. His wife is number 3..he's outlived, and hope he lives another 20 yrs, 2 wives. Number one was a Cinnamon gray..when they had babies, most were gray w/light orange cheeks, males had deep orange cheeks. The first couple mentioned, somewhere along the line, an all yellow male or female/yellow = Lutino, got in the act..lol. Norma, now for plants, lol, a good number of my succulents are what you call, bast***s..lol..problem is, I do not know their ID's.. I get mixed up with Alow/Haworthia, and yucca/pandanus.. One succulent bought locally looks like hanging baby aloes..It was only a year or two ago I found it was a Sanseveria. Do you know which Sans I'm referring to? Thanks for the help..btw, why Blue & Gold bred with Scarlet macaws produce orange and blue Catlalina's is an enigma..The DNA maker knows for sure..lol..Toni

I forgot about this thread. Mersi, no, my vanilla orchid never bloomed..I wish. I had two, green and variegated..the var went to plant heaven. I could blame it on the seller, but it was my fault..except I still don't know where I went wrong..lol The green is once again a small plant..It grew huge, over 10'..Somehow, the stems tangled..it was like unraveling Christmas lights that have been tossed in a box w/o organizing. It got a haircut about a year ago. Cuttings never rooted..boohoo. Marcsi, you've never heard of Gardenwatchdog? Wow..It's too bad everyone who grows/buys plants wasn't aware of this site. It's great for two reasons..The first is if someone wants to order from 'x' nursery, they check GWD, and read feedback. The second is, it's a good way finding a nursery. BUT, there is a negative side, too. Over the years I've talked to a few nursery owners. They're very nice people, have to take lots of cr*p when it comes to the public. One woman ordered 2 plants from 'x' nusery. One was a backorder so when she opened the box, found one plant missing, she went balistic. She phoned the owner at midnight, again 4am..she admitted, on GWD, calling his home at midnight. She hesitated mentioning the 4am call though.. To top it off, she left negative feedback. If someone doesn't get exactly what they think they're going to get, instead of contacting the owner they run to GWD, rant and rave what a terrible nursery they ordered from, warn people away. I've ordered from nurseries some complained about and never had any problems. One man ships bare-root plants..it's written in plain English..still some complain the print isn't large enough, or it doesn't offer a good-enough description. The seller even displays pics/sizes of what to expect..lol How much more can anyone do? So, all it takes is one person to get the ball rolling, and others tend to follow. But I do enjoy reading GWD and have found several decent nurseries. Perhaps Logees has improved their stock. If they haven't, the only reason they could be getting positive feedback, and I dread saying this is, people who have been shopping with them for years may feel dedicated, or ppl who just starting buying plants, who never shopped elsewhere, have nothing to compare to, perhaps feel a 3" plant is sufficient, especially if they believe it rare. I feel bad talking down about Logees, but after paying high costs to receive dead or tiny plants, if someone asked where to shop, I c/wouldn't refer them. Toni