It's amazing to me how quickly the porch plants have filled out and become lush and verdant. Several have already gotten leggy and faded looking, so I planted them in the garden and replaced them with others. I get the feeling that the current bunch of porch plants aren't going to last much longer , they're annuals..... some are already too big and heavy for the pots they're in, more are getting leggy and sort of going to seed...hard to describe...I hope you know what I'm talking about. What do you do when your porch plants get like that? Just replace them with a new batch?
Oh that coleus is gorgeous!!! When mine get kind of spindley and leggy looking I cut them back. Works really well with petunias
Huh. OK I'll try that. The coleus you mentioned has gotten so big and top heavy it's starting to list to port! I need to do something with it...I thought about repotting it, but it's also started to get leggy along with the listing...you just can't see that in the photo. I snapped the pick on purpose at an angle that doesn't show the lean. Hmmm... maybe I'll cut it back as you suggested, and see what that does. I need to cut back those sweet potato vines too...since the photo, they've started to snake along the porch floor and seem determined to reach the coffee table!! Thanks!
I do not automatically get rid of all porch plants. It depends upon what they are. Some I grow year after year. Why would I want to discard a plant that I like and looks good? It is true though that I sometimes do want to switch balcony/porch plants just for the variety. Sometimes though, I am such a softie that I plant the old plants in the lottie and nurse them along.
Wait.....what???? Root them? Seriously? I can do that?? OK but what do I do then? I mean, I've only ever grown coleus as an outside plant in a container. And as an annual. How do I overwinter one? Can I bring it inside and have it be a houseplant?
Your coleus is to die for and YES root the cuttings! They're beautiful and your fern is beautiful too. How long did it take to get that big? I put my Jade plants outside every summer and they grow like crazy and just seem to tolerate it back in the house during the winter. I feel your question though as I can grow things well in the summer time but I'm often challenged as to where to put everything come fall when I have to bring them all back inside.
I bought the fern back in the spring....it was fairly big then, so I can't take a whole lotta credit for its growth I'm going to head out shortly and take some cuttings from that coleus, now that y'all have encouraged me!!
@Ronni - how much sun does your porch get and are you climactically able to keep your houseplants outside all year long? Definitely love your use of pillows out front and your carpet too. You've definitely created a really bright and happy spot (And if you don't mind I might just steal your carpet idea for my own porch area )
My porch is mostly in the shade. That first picture I posted, that one little corner of the porch gets sun. The rest of the area is shaded. And no, it dips below freezing here in the winter, not chronically but frequently through the season, and the annuals die and the perennials go dormant, so any outside plant that I hope to keep alive has to be brought inside. It's often just easier to replace them.....like that fern that you commented on earlier, it won't survive the winter outside, and it's just too big to bring inside. They're very inexpensive, and it's common practice here for folks to just replace their outside ferns each year. Every spring, nurseries and the big box stores do a thriving business on ferns and other container plants. Thanks so much! A good portion of what you see on the porch are thrift store finds. I didn't spend much money on anything decorative. Just bright little knick knacks and accessories, and liberal use of happy paint colors! There are two other Porch related threads I started here because this porch has been quite an evolution over this spring and summer. It started out bland and uninteresting, and it's been so much fun to create a bright, happy, welcoming spot. I found that carpet at my local Big Lots store by the way for really cheap....it's indoor/outdoor, and it was the last major purchase for the porch. I liked the way it sort of pulled all the colors together, and created a unity that the plan concrete floor couldn't do. Here's the first of the threads: http://www.gardenstew.com/threads/porch-sittin.36831/ And then I started this one: http://www.gardenstew.com/threads/porch-pics-now-with-bbq-pics-as-requested.37176/
LOVE the evolution of your porch. Garage Sales and Thrift Stores R US (me) too! Many of the BEST finds are pre-loved As I said in another thread I'm recently retired and just in the place coming up a year and a half. Had to get the inside freshed up first but now am focusing on the outside and I want an area exactly as you've created. I love the mix of bright colours and use of outdoor plants. They do all come together to create a really cheery area to sit in. AND, via the links you shared, I could see the grandkids sitting and playing outside (which is what I want for my Grandkids here). I want a sitting area that is super comfortable BUT if you happen to dribble a coffee or something it isn't the end of the world either I wish we got ferns here. Last week I was at our Home Depot. They had in huge Boston Ferns in 5 gallon size pots and had them priced at $49.99 (Canadian) but that is ridiculously expensive IMO. We do get dracaenas brought in here every year and they run $2 for 4" pot. I was able to over winter one last winter here but it was super mild. Our temperatures sound about the same as yours where we do get freezing sufficient to wipe out tender plants. Interestingly (like your chair + plants) I just bought an old teak chair (greyed and I couldn't sand it enough to get it back to brown) so I painted it black with an intention of putting it out and filling it with pots of bright red geraniums. What I'm doing is buying fancy shallow plant containers and then growing hen and chicks in them. They're pretty hardy so will over winter and they look tidy yet lush. I think I have you as a "watched" thread You've definitely persuaded me to get some coleus going for next spring I'm mostly shade by the house so am great for hostas (and could be great for ferns too if I could find some reasonably priced ones here) Love you PORCH posts! (A FAN! )
Awww Thanks Island Life! But please bear in mind that I am a very newbie gardener, so you won't get a whole lot of gardening wisdom from me....I am much more experienced with houseplants than anything else. But The Stew is such a diverse place that I tend to opine about all manner of subjects here, so there is that Well, I did it....I cut back the coleus and put them in a jug inside to root. They actually make a really lovely cut display too!
@Ronni - Yesterday I actually cruised two of our grocery stores plus Feed Mill here and had a specific look for coleus but no cigar Almost all the annuals are gone and what is left is (ahem) pretty bad! I think what I'll do is see if I can snaffle a packet of coleus seeds next season and try starting them - well I can 'start' them it is keeping them going to any appreciable size is problematic for me. The last decade plus of working was in the State of Washington, Pacific Northwest and weekly I hit my favourite thrift shops looking for all manner of goodies and the treasures I found were all pretty darn decent treasures Here we have thrift shops but really good treasures are much harder to come by. Most stuff here is just plain old and tired having lived a much better life elsewhere - BUT - that being said every couple of months I do hop the Ferry and head south to cruise the Thrifts and Shops (i.e. Ross/Marshalls) Definitely hope your coleus root. That particular one you have looks superb. I would only maybe suggest that whilst trying to root you pinch out the flowers. I think that might help the plant put energy to rooting (but you might also want to check with a much more experienced gardener than me to be sure). Keep looking for your bargoons the local phrase for bargains and sharing. Love your finds and love the look of your porch
I just realized the container the coleus are sitting in is yet another thrift store find...I think it was a quarter because it's actually a ceramic teapot that was missing its lid. Ha! I love using things like that for vases, rather than more traditional, or formal looking stuff. As you can see from my various postings, I am neither formal nor traditional. Oh, and thanks for the suggestion re pinching out the flowers. I think you might be right. The more energy the plant can send to putting out roots the better. Good idea!
On me too! I have a superb pottery tea pot that had the face of a cat on it. No lid but I used it outside as a vase for years. It finally started to crack down the backside and could no longer hold anything and now that I'm thinking about I don't know if I have it here with me in Canada OR if I sent it to its final resting place when I loved home from Washington. Gee - now you got me scratching my head wondering IF I have it still in one of the boxes I haven't gotten to in the garage cause I know it had crossed my mind to plant it with hen and chicks. They, by the way, look wonderful growing out of tea pots, funny look mugs and all manner of things as they can virtually grow out of a rock (have very shallow roots and take minimal water) and after a season of growing they typically really fill the container and look super lush. Darn - now I have to go and see if I can find that old tea pot. Yours for .25 is my type of bargoon too I LOVE those finds and yours has the added bonus of lots of bright colour too (Great find! ) Love the creamer too
