Patio Plants

The new patio created from the old garden room renovation has caused me to have some container gardens. I have resisted this type of gardening since it requires more attention but times change.
My friend Kathy & her husband David presented me with two pitcher plants & I have finally got them into a suitable container.

Pitcher plants (Sarracenia) in a galvanized tub made to represent an acidic bog. We saw this type of container at Growing Wild Nursery near Burgaw NC.

to ensure bog conditions holes are drilled about 4" above the bottom of the container. After rain the water stays below the holes keeping the peat based media above damp by capillary action.

It is important to only use rain water luckily I have 4 rain barrels.

Other hypertufa containers are supposed to be a herb garden but I am wondering if this spot will get enough sun so I started out with lettuce this spring which has been successful. The parsley & chives on the other side have worked well too.

The old dog basket has bush beans as another "enough sun" experiment

I think all these containers are Kathy's fault. 

Check out her fabulous examples at the Pitt County Arboretum