{"id":21532,"date":"2011-09-02T12:17:19","date_gmt":"2011-09-02T16:17:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=21532"},"modified":"2014-09-03T12:26:45","modified_gmt":"2014-09-03T16:26:45","slug":"from-pot-to-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=21532","title":{"rendered":"From Pot to Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ah, the synergy of pots and garden. Apart from the infinite aesthetic considerations, from a practical standpoint, pots can render any garden effectively zoneless or, as in my very small garden, they can stretch available planting space. In a process I repeat over and over, a prized, rare agave is finally taken down from its prominent position on a table and moved to ground level, whether planted or kept in the container, to suffer the slings and arrows of garden life — wayward paws, my own clumsy two feet, mollusk attack. Sometimes I keep agaves potted because of the formidable arrows they<\/em> can sling at ankles and dog noses. Due to his fearsome spines, I couldn’t make up my mind with Agave ‘Jaws’ but compromised by moving him to the gravel garden still confined to a container for quick removal. The passive-aggressive approach, simultaneously planted and<\/em> kept in a container. That was years ago, and the roots have escaped the drainage hole and are firmly anchored in the garden. The cats love scratching their cheeks against his leaves.
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It’s not that an agave loses its attraction, but more a matter of keeping table space clear for future potted attractions.
\nNow it’s Agave desmettiana ‘Joe Hoak’s’ turn to leave the safety of high places. I doubt I’ll ever let him out of a container, though.<\/p>\n

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The tropical, soft-leaved desmettiana agaves always get a little scruffy and snail-bitten mid-winter, with even their symmetry seeming somehow diminished. By late summer, they’ve shaken off any residual winter doldrums and have arched into their finest urn-shaped form, and I can’t resist letting him join in the garden festivities. But if I catch a snail within 5 feet of Joe, back up on the table he goes, which is why he’ll stay in a pot. Plant Delights<\/a> currently lists this agave, and theirs show the pale color of blanched endive. I’m not sure if there are different forms of this selection in circulation, or if it’s just a matter of different photographers. (Or possibly from keeping the agave indoors half the year?)<\/p>\n

Similarly, Agave ‘Cornelius’ was recently planted in the front gravel garden, where he’ll gain size much faster than in a container.<\/p>\n

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Almost all the plants in the gravel garden did potted duty on tables or in large pots for a period of time. The furcraea, the Agave ‘Jaws,’ the dasylirion in the distance, even the ‘Kiwi’ aeoniums multiplied to this size and were enjoyed in a large container before being planted out. Whatever temperature a garden experiences mid-winter, these sculptural plants were born for plinth and pedestal, be it in the humblest or most extravagant container. Containers keep them protected, admired — and, where necessary, always ready for transit as temperatures dip. Semper paratus<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Aloes too. Aloe peglerae still in a pot.<\/p>\n

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Many of my aloes are kept in pots because the garden can’t accommodate their eventual size. In the garden, Aloe marlothii lounges on helicotrichon, blue oats grass.<\/p>\n

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Unlike the stiff leaves of Helicotrichon elegans, Sesleria ‘Greenlee’ seems more pliable for succulent plantings.<\/p>\n

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This Echeveria ‘Opal Moon’ wasn’t even potted up but had a coffee can sleeve slipped over the nursery gallon.<\/p>\n

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Echeveria gigantea wouldn’t keep these unblemished leaves for long planted out in the garden.<\/p>\n

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Kalanchoe synsepala recently made the move to the garden. A “walking” or stem-rooting kalanchoe, I needed to get this out of the pot to see it in action.<\/p>\n

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As the nip in the night air increases, it signals the great container migration is about to begin again in gardens all over the world.
\nSo much of the dynamism of a garden is owed to pots and containers. Semper paratus<\/em>!<\/p>\n

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Ah, the synergy of pots and garden. Apart from the infinite aesthetic considerations, from a practical standpoint, pots can render any garden effectively zoneless or, as in my very small garden, they can stretch available planting space. In a process … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[28,898,27],"tags":[1259,601,1422,1426,1427,383,1201],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paNJ2E-5Bi","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21532"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21532"}],"version-history":[{"count":80,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59701,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21532\/revisions\/59701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}