Lessons Learned - Plants

Time flies.  Here is an update on my plants an what I learned about them (and myself ;-)

The combination of mother-in-law's tongue and southern maidenhair fern described here was most elegant and pleasing.  My attempts to propagate Sansevieria failed.  I used moss ground cover to maintain moisture and I think it was a mistake.  By the end of the winter mother-in-law's tongue leaves just rotted at the bottom.  I found no place for fern so just I discarded it.  Yet I would love to redo this container when I have a chance.

Sago palm described in the same post hardly changed.  I do not care much for it and it does not exactly match my vision for the north balcony, but it just keeps going.  Albeit slowly.  Must be root-bound.

On to South-facing balcony.  I knew the plants will not survive unless I automate watering.  All planters were hooked to a drip irrigation system connected to tap via timer. Most of the emitters are of micro-bubbler type. Watering was done every 3 days in summer and every 6 days in winter for 5 minutes at a time.  In retrospect, I should have been watering plants daily in summer.  Besides I forgot to change the schedule in spring and lost few plants.

2ft Planter

6/2013	6/2014

Coral Honeysuckle vine in this planter died in spring, I blame low watering.  I expected for this vine to be a hummingbird magnet.  This did not happen.  I blame only myself.  Growth was not that fast last summer, so in retrospect I would not recommend this plant to myself.  Besides, from what I remember it was pretty expensive.

Hot Lips Sage took the planter over.  It thrived under low watering regimen.  Bees like it.  Not hummingbirds.  My problem is that foliage is not dense enough.  You can just see through this plant.  So, I will getting rid of this plant when I redo the planter.

I love lantana - very tolerant, nice flowers, and very diverse.  This one is of mounding variety.  My other container has the one which is totally creeping.  What I do not like is how the plant looks in its second year.  There are a lot of dead leaves.  I removed those.  New growth appears on periphery, with core being empty.  This could be my lack of knowledge on how to handle perennials.  Should I have just pruned all the stems in the winter? 

Planters Combo

6/2013	6/2014

Spider Flower was ok.  But it is an annual and I did not mind moving on.  My kids did no like it because it is...spidery.

Coreopsis was awesome!  Flowers through the season despite low water.  Nice bright spot.  In its second year it is less appealing.  I cut it in winter, it came back in spring strong, but the growth is uneven. It does not fit my vision of the future garden, but otherwise it is highly recommended.

Tsavo Golden Yellow Sanvitalia was pretty amazing.  It would spring to life after watering.  Very very nice annual - I like it a lot.

As you can see I used these planters for Jade plants which, by the way, are doing very well.  Finally that bowl planter - I planted some California poppy seeds there.

2ft Planter

6/2013	6/2014

All of the plants survived despite spartan water regimen.  Probably because it is upstream in the irrigation pipe and water pressure is higher, thus plants were getting more water than in another 2ft planter.
Coral Honeysuckle grows, although I expected faster growth.  Right now there is only one flower and it hummingbirds are not impressed.
English lavender just took off.  I never realised how high it can be.
Passionate Blush Gaura barely survived.  There are only few stems surrounded by dead ones.  I cleaned it up but the plant is not attractive.

Large Rectangular Planter

8/2013	6/2014

That creeping lantana which I just so loved last summer, barely survived.  I did not trim at all during the winter, so this spring I just had to remove all the dried stems.  So far the growth was lacking.  It could be my poor watering or poor soil - I did amend the mix, or early heat wave here.
This month I added Red Fountain Grass (Pennisetum Setaceum Rubrum) as a thriller. If things go well, it will be huge!

Small Galvanized Steel Planter

8/2013	6/2014

I loved this Marguerite Daisy (Molimba Helio White).  It is an annual though.  So this spring I moved Dwarf Jade (Portulacaria afra) to this planter.  Here is what it looked like when ordered last August.  It just took off.

Large Galvanized Steel Planter

8/2013	6/2014

This Alaska Azalea (Azalea indica 'Alaska', Rutherfordiana hybrid)was almost immediately hit by an infestation of small white insects.  I used Organocide 3-in-1 insecticide/fungicide/miticide.  It smells like fish-oil.  Repeated the spraying in spring.  Insects are gone.  But there is no growth.  I suspect it just too hot. I do add agricultural sulfur to make the soil acidic.
I love this azalea!