Purple Prince Alternanthera calls for full sun but happily, it seems to be taking to it’s shady home just fine. While Alternanthera is perfectly suited to landscape plantings, I chose to use it in a planter as the thriller.
A) Purple Prince Alternanthera
Recommended for full sun to light shade, I have it in a densely shaded place and it’s doing fine. It’s also suggested as a spiller in planters, I’ve chosen to use it as a thriller in this planter.
B) Escargot Rex Begonia
Silver and green leaves with a snail-like pattern have a purplish underside. It’s coloring worked well in this combination.
C) Burgundy Wedding Train Coleus
One of the few coleus with a true trailing habit which makes it highly desirable for container plantings. It’s limey colored edges make a nice contrast to the darker colored foliage.
D) Lobelia
I added three purple Lobelia a couple of weeks after the rest of the plants when I decided something was missing. At the time the planter was already so crammed with plants, I ended up ripping half the roots off so I could stuff them in. They didn’t seem to mind.
E) Setcreasea
There are three setcreasea stems in this planter. My mother keeps a few slips at the end of each season to have for the next one. Something to consider for easily rooted plants, it helps to keep costs down. Many of the spillers commonly used in planters do well as houseplants over the winter.
This planter is very full, but the bottom half of the planter is all virgin soil waiting for new roots, so it will hold moisture just fine. In front of the planter is one of my houseplants. A limey-gold pothos, it has exploded in the couple of weeks it has been outdoors. I’m convinced it has already doubled in size.
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Up until last April I rarely thought about begonias and if I did think about them I was thinking of ‘wax’ or ‘seed’ begonia. Those flats of annuals with their tightly packed fleshy leaves that are usually planted in a line along the edge of a garden bed.
And while those begonia still have a place in shade gardens, especially with the downy mildew issues that have affected Impatiens, these next four begonia are something all-together different.
Dragon Wing Begonia
Dragon Wing Begonia in Hanging Baskets, Megawatt Begonia below.
These are the huge showy plants you’re most likely to see in municipal planters and gardens. And why wouldn’t you? Sun, Shade or anything between they put on a fabulous show until first frost. Dragon Wing begonia are to shade what petunias are to sun, only even better because they have a longer season.
Usually they’re sold in hanging baskets or 5-6″ pots, last year I was lucky enough to find them in 6 packs so I bought a flat of them.
In September they were still flowering like crazy and holding their own against that horrible chameleon weed. Dragon Wing is available in either Pink or Red with green leaves only.
BIG Begonia
Another new to me variety, I tried this one out last year too. BIG begonia are suitable for full sun to full shade and everything between.
With its more upright habit, BIG begonias are perfect for planters and landscape use. I grew it in the lower level of this corner bed.
Santa Cruz and San Francisco top level, Big series begonia in Pink and Rose in the lower level.
By the end of the season, it was as tall as the begonia in the top level and it never stopped flowering.
Flower colors of Pink, Rose, and Red are all available with either green leaves or bronze leaves.
Megawatt Begonia
New for 2017, Megawatt is another upright hybrid begonia, perfect for landscape and planters. From the same company as Dragon Wing, it has those nice big glossy leaves. Initially offered in 4 colors, Pink Bronze Leaf, Rose Bronze Leaf, Red Green Leaf and Rose Green Leaf and recommended for part sun.
I will be trying the Bronze Leaved Pink this year.
Already I’m super impressed with the Megawatt Begonias well branched beefy stems.
Surefire Begonia
Surefire are a green leaved hybrid Begonia in Pink and Red by Proven Winners. They are suitable for sun or shade. In growth habit, they so far seem very similar to the BIG begonias.
Side by Side comparison
Lower Level – Megawatt Pink w/Bronze Leaves. Upper Level – Surefire Red and BIG Pink w/Bronze Leaves
For my own satisfaction, I decided to do a bit of a side by side comparison of the biggest of the big. This bed gets an average of two hours of sun per day, with the front dead center getting three to four. I’m interested to see what, if any, difference there are between these three varieties.
Santa Cruz, San Francisco Begonia top-level, Big Begonias in Rose and Pink lower level
Last year, after the fence went up I threw together this raised bed for the corner that was too shady for vegetables but still needed something. Once the monsoons we had last year started, I was grateful it was a raised bed or everything would have been underwater and probably rotted.
I planted top-level with Santa Cruz (the red) and San Francisco (the coral-pink color) a 2016 Intro, and the bottom with begonias from the Big series, Rose Green Leaf and Pink Green Leaf.
Santa Cruz and San Francisco are both boliviensis type begonias, so they’re perfect for hanging baskets or planters. The leaves are smaller than Dragon Wing and not as glossy, while the plants themselves are a bit more compact.
For 2017 Santa Barbara with a white flower joins the collection, you can see it above mingled with Santa Cruz and San Francisco.
Santa Barbara – a new intro for 2017.
I have three Santa Barbara to try this year. I added them to a sorry-looking palm that I have and nearly lost them because there were no drainage holes in the planter.
Of the three, one is fine, one is maybe and I’m doing my best to salvage something from the third one.
The bed below has 3 each of the Santa Cruz and San Francisco along with 3 large-leaved hosta in the top-level. The bottom level has 3 each of Big Rose Green Leaf and Big Pink Green Leaf.
Santa Cruz and San Francisco top-level, Big series begonia in Pink and Rose.
Everything was planted in a mix of fresh soil and compost but never fertilized. Once the plants were established I rarely watered or weeded either. This bed gets a couple of hours of morning sun and shade for the rest of the day. It’s roughly 10′ across the front and each side of the triangle is about 85″
All of the colors in the Sun City Collection will handle sun or shade, and they are heat and drought tolerant. They’ll reach a height of roughly 12″, Long after my petunia were sad and scraggly, these were still gorgeous and worthy of a spot in your planters and hanging baskets.
It was so hard to pick just one title for this instant patio planter project, because I had so many contenders. Here are just a few of the ideas I discarded
No Place to Hang a Plant? No Problem!
Hanging Baskets That Don’t Dry Out!
I Like Big Pots and I Cannot Lie!
The last one is my favorite.
Anyhow, if you have ever experienced any of the following, this project is for you.
You are hosting a spring party and none of your planters are pretty yet.
You bought a hanging basket on impulse and then remembered after you got home you don’t have anyplace to hang one.
You wanted to buy a hanging basket because it was beautiful, but you didn’t because you have no place to hang one and now you’re sad.
You buy hanging baskets every year and then before you get to enjoy them, the weather turns scorching and even though you water twice a day, every single plant shrivels and dies while you are at work.
Step 1 – buy a gorgeous Hanging Basket at your garden center.
I have this beauty sitting on an upside down pail so none of my spillers get broken. You can see in the photo evidence of my favorite patio pastime.
So you could take the easy route and just drop that hanging basket into an urn or tall planter – pot and all.
And you can see it will look nice if you do that, but only for a while unless you dedicate yourself watering. See first photo for evidence that I prefer to enjoy my patio in other ways.
If you do take the easy way out buy a premium planter, one that comes in a bigger and deeper pot will last longer. And for Pete’s sake, at least remove the hangers from the pot. It’s easily done and looks so much better than having a purposeless hook in the middle of your planter.Â
The problem with going the easy way is unless you water twice a day, your planter will still shrivel up and die as soon as you get some hot weather. By the time you bring it home, there isn’t enough soil left in a 12″ hanging basket to sustain the numbers of plants that it holds. The planter above has 8 plants in it! Plus, plants in greenhouses grow best with a light fast draining soil which isn’t always the best for at home. Instead you need to…
Step 2 – prepare a BIG planter with soil.
Use good soil that has lots of organic material in it. Soil that will hold moisture well and is easy to re-wet if it happens to dry out.
Somehow, between finding out the battery on my camera needed charging and the sudden monsoon that happened during this project, I missed taking a photo of this step so here is an awesome video instead. He likes big pots too.
You really want to have that planter prepared perfectly before you go to the next steps – trust me!
Step 3 – remove the hangers from the pot.
You will have to carefully reach through the foliage to do this, but basically you push the each strand down as far as it will go with one hand to unclip the hook part. With the other hand reach under the rim of the planter and spread the clips apart and while keeping them spread out, pull it up with the other hand. Or if you’re going to throw the pot away, just cut the hanger off.
Step 4 – the tricky part!
If you still don’t have your planter ready with soil and a planting hole, you’re gonna regret it!
Carefully thread your hand into the center of the planter. You will need to flatten your palm against the soil without crushing any plants. Spread your fingers out as much as you can.
Step 5 – Flip me over and..
Very rarely will it ever just ‘pour out’. Keep the top of the plant balanced on one hand while you pull the pot off.
Remove the drainage saucer. The root ball on this one is gorgeous, but it was in a 12″ basket that was nice and deep instead of the typical 2 for $25 10″ basket.
Step 6 – replant it.
Carefully flip the plant into the planting hole you have prepared in your planter. Gently reach under the foliage and tamp soil around the root ball.
Presto – Instant Gorgeous Patio Planter!
Step 7 – move the planter to it’s new home.
This one is going over by my mailbox where the dogs can’t reach it, because according to my dogs, blue flowers are the tastiest.
The Who, What and How Many!
This planter contains:
4 Yellow Begonia
2 Coleus of a mounding or trailing type.
2 Asparagus ferns
2 Lobelia
2 Bacopa
It won’t last all summer, or at least not all of it will. As soon as we have a hot spell, the Bacopa will ‘stall’ or stop flowering. They always do when it’s hot. Some varieties are better in heat (the Betty series of bacopa will still have at least some flowers), but Bacopa is not a heat lover. Even worse, without flowers there is nothing attractive about Bacopa. Lobelia, depending on the variety, can also stall. The coleus, begonia and fern are most likely to last through August, but remove any flower spikes from the coleus – they are not attractive.
The planter I used is a shabby old plastic planter I spray painted black last summer. After a winter under the deck, it was looking shabby again so I spray painted it in a deliberately blotchy pattern with brass and copper colored spray paint. The metallic paints give the planter a nice gleam in it’s super shady spot. It looks even nicer now that those stupid little flies are gone again.
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I’ve said it before – I love Non Stop Begonia. For shade gardeners looking for something more than pretty foliage, the flowers on Non Stop begonias are high impact. It’s kind of like they’re the shade equivalent of Geraniums.
There’s a huge range of colors to choose from either with green leaves in the Non Stop series, or in the dark-leaved Non Stop Mocca series.
Last year was my first year growing them.
I tried the Mocca Bright Orange, with chocolate-colored leaves and those amazing bright orange flowers.
And I tried Non Stop Joy, a beautiful clear yellow that’s perfect for hanging baskets. I have seen Non Stop Joy advertised as having 100% double flowers, but even though it tends to a higher number of double flowers, it isn’t 100%. Non Stop begonias never are, because they have both male and female flowers, and it is impossible (or at least very difficult) to completely breed out the male or single flowers.
It was instant love, so I added Mocca Cherry to the collection too. There was never a time over the summer that these plants didn’t have flowers.
Non Stop Begonia Care & Habit
Nonstop and Nonstop MOCCA are both available in a range of colors.
Nonstop Begonias will grow in sun to partial shade – a huge plus in my mostly shady yard.
They grow 8-9″ tall with a well branched mounded habit.
Suitable for Pots, Hanging Baskets, Mixed Containers and Landscape.
Plants are usually sold in pots 4 1/2″ and up. They are showy enough that for the home gardener, the higher price is still a good value.
Non Stops are a tuberous begonia
They are day length sensitive, so starting them from seed might be tempting but providing 12 hour days for them is rarely practical outside of the greenhouse. Without the correct amount of light, they stop growing and eventually disappear, so unless you know how to save the tubers they won’t over winter.
For more information on Non Stop and Non Stop Mocca Begonias, visit the breeder website –Benary.
True story – way back when I started working in the wholesale ornamental plant industry, I used to enter customer orders. Some customers would send their orders with tray counts and I would have to convert them to units for our order entry system. So along comes this one order and the customer requested say 9 trays each of red and yellow Non Stop Begonia. So I multiplied 72 ( the number of plants in each tray) by 9, lost my mind for a minute, and multiplied by 9 again. It was a huge and extremely expensive error.
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