Pathetic

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 Some times you just have to suck it up and admit failure. Here are a few of my 2013 containers that are slated for de-construction this upcoming weekend.

 The hourglass figure is not a good look for a container combo. You almost have to see it in person to get the full effect of the tall skinny Zinnia with brown leaves at it's base, sticking up valiantly from the drape of Calibrachoa.  Unfortunately, this is in the front garden.

 

A hapless victim of my trip to Boston. The Cordyline will prevail, the rest is compost.


.
No comment. 

Easily one of the most dreadful container combinations I have come up with in years...maybe decades.



At least nothing is dead in this one, and the Ipomea is pretty happy. The rest of it has seen better days.


At least the succulents still look good !


Comments

  1. outlawgardenerSeptember 3, 2013 at 10:09 PM

    Your succulents look fabulous and your consistent use of terra cotta pots gives your containers and garden a sense of continuity. We've all seen much worse! O.K. maybe not much worse than the "no comment" picture but on the container is really stunning and there isn't a lot of foliage obscuring its beautiful shape.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ksSeptember 4, 2013 at 7:23 PM

      I detect a positive mental attitude there Peter ! I have 2 of those 'no comment pots', and next year they are going to be treated as they deserve..terra cotta is inexpensive and comes in just about any size or shape you need-I don't have to worry about the winter freeze thing here either.

      Delete
  2. Mark and GazSeptember 4, 2013 at 1:38 AM

    Yay for the succulents!

    ReplyDelete
  3. SueSeptember 4, 2013 at 3:26 AM

    Pathetic is right. Sheesh! Haven't you learned anything from Deanne? :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Deanne FortnamSeptember 4, 2013 at 4:31 AM

    OMG!!! Sorry Kathy but thanks so much for a really good laugh this morning. Those poor babies. They really don't do well this time of year with their caretakers taking trips. The "No Comment" almost had me spitting my coffee out onto my keyboard. Your succulents look dynamite though. Do you have to bring those inside the house or will just protecting them do it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ksSeptember 4, 2013 at 7:31 PM

      Deanne, you can imagine me coming back from your house, going into my garden and being confronted with these godforsaken containers ! What a rude awakening. Some of the succulents are hardy here (Agaves , Sedums, Semps, some Senecios) and others are borderlines. I move the small pots into the house and the others go into my pop-up greenhouse.

      Delete
  5. danger gardenSeptember 4, 2013 at 8:44 AM

    Yikes...but, um, as the others have said your succulents look grand!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Kris PetersonSeptember 4, 2013 at 10:20 AM

    I sympathize! My vegetable garden looks similarly bereft due to my inattention and I've begun tearing things out even though it's not yet time for cool season planting. Containers are difficult to manage in the summer heat under the best of circumstances without constant attention. That's why most of mine are planted with succulents.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ksSeptember 4, 2013 at 7:34 PM

      I hear you Kris..August marks the most ratty period in my garden, all those months without rain starts to take its toll.

      Delete
  7. AnonymousSeptember 4, 2013 at 12:33 PM

    Not bad, since everything here looks good only in the rainy season or in mid-spring. Except many succulents, they look decent to great...yours' look more than great!

    ReplyDelete
  8. ksSeptember 4, 2013 at 7:49 PM

    I appreciate your challenges David-I lived in Arizona for a few years back in the olden days. The desert is beautiful and compelling , but it's not for everyone. Some people just don't get it, but I love it and would be happy to spend a couple months there every year.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hoover BooSeptember 5, 2013 at 4:05 PM

    But, the pots themselves are quite pretty!

    I don't even deal with pots unless they are for succulents. Nothing else is happy here potted. And sometimes not even succulents.

    ReplyDelete
  10. DeniseSeptember 7, 2013 at 11:34 AM

    Kathy, those all could have been shots of containers I've done in the past. Other than succulents, lately I've only done a couple mono pots with tough shrubs like westringia, ozothamnus. Amazing how well shrubs hold up, even in western exposures, extreme heat, forgetting to water, etc. Makes me willing to "branch" out and try more shrubs for containers.

    ReplyDelete

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