The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Experts suggest plants for spring containers
hen said. “At 1 ½ to 2 feet tall, they make lovely fillers for a container and, unlike a flowering plant that may not look that great at the end of the season, they are beautiful throughout.”
In warmer parts of the country, annual grasses can stay in the pots all year, she added. In areas that get a fall freeze, the grasses can be tossed into the compost.
Plant breeders, such as PanAmerican Seed with their ColorGrass series, have introduced new varieties of blue fescue, sedges, tufted hair grass (Deschampsia), lovegrass (Eragrostis) and other upright and clump-forming annual and perennial grasses that provide texture and color in pots placed in full sun. Shadeloving grasses, like Japanese forest grass or Hakone grass (Hakonechloa macra ‘All Gold’) shine on their own and provide a cascade of chartreuse leaves over the rim of a pot. Cohen also likes the idea of growing miniature hostas, like ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ and ‘Teaspoon’ in pots for shady sites.
“People are going nuts for succulents, and they’re growing them in troughs,” Cohen said. She grows several of them in her garden in Valley Forge, Pa. “There are wonderful miniature sedums and hens and chicks (Sempervivum spp.) with blue-green leaves and red edges that are stunning. I overwinter them outside by a wall because I don’t want the deer to see them.”
In its 2015 trends forecast, the Garden Writers Association predicted that many gardeners will grow edibles in pots as well as in the ground.
And, in a new book, “Grow a Living Wall: Create Vertical Gardens with Purpose” (Cool Springs Press), Shawna Coronado explains how to make the most of a really small space: a wall. In less than 2 square feet of floor space, Coronado nurtures a tower of herbs, vegetables and flowering plants for pollinators.
“Ornamental edibles are my favorite container plants,” Coronado said. “I don’t see edibles as a trend. I see them as a long-term proposition for gardeners across the world.”