Someone had asked me about my sunflowers and if the flowers had actually opened up. Here's a pic of what they look like now! Butterflies and Bees...come on over! Supper's ready!
(The fence is about 4 feet tall. The tallest flower is about 5 feet tall - pretty cool huh?)
So, about a couple weeks ago I decided to have a potting party. I've had a subscription to Sunset Mag, and usually in every issue, they will have a sample of a container garden and a legend of what is exactly in that container. I thought, wouldn't it be great to learn how to create different types of container gardens and share that info with friends and family. The concept of a container garden applies to flower boxes and flower beds, where you want to have plants of different heights and textures so that you have a bed/box that is multi-dimensional.
In doing research on various containers, I came across water gardens. Now, I've always wanted to build a fountain in my backyard, so this definitely piqued my interest. It's a great way to experiment with putting a water feature together, but on a smaller scale.
Sometime after I moved into my house, my sister-in-law came to visit and we went to just about every junk store in my city. It was GREAT! I had purchased a huge ceramic pot, then about 8 months later, I had returned to the same junk store and purchased another big pot. I had not planted anything in the pots, because I couldn't figure out what I wanted to put in there. When I decided to build a water feature, I got the bright idea to use these pots as base cauldrons.
There were a couple of things that I needed. 1) The shorter planter had a drainage hole at the bottom. I had to get a piece of cork, or rubber stopper to plug that hole up. 2) I needed water plants.
The cork was easy, I went to OSH and they sell them piecemeal.
The water plants I got were from a pond store. This was a store where they sell Koi and other water garden supplies. I have no idea what type of grass this is...I think it's called Blue Mohawk. The flower is a Water Hyacinth. I bought only 2, because according to the guy at the store, they propagate quickly.
Just an aside: I just learned about water hyacinths, but when my dad saw them, he knew exactly what they were called and why they were great in the water. I was surprised and said "how did you know that!?!" and he said he had them in the philippines. Apparently they are everywhere.
Water plants are great, not only because they decorate the container. They are beneficial to ponds/fountains because they absorb the nitrates and phosphates that algae need to grow, and they feed the fish! They do not anchor to the bottom of the container but float as a mass at the water's surface.
When I was speaking with the sales person, he mentioned to me that when putting plants in a pond or other water feature, I should use GARDEN SOIL, as opposed to potting soil. Garden soil is heavier than potting soil (which tends to be a mix of garden soil and other lighter material that floats. This is why potting soil has great drainage). The garden soil will settle into the plant pot.
I did not take the grasses out of the plant pots because the place where I purchased these used a garden soil/clay mix. However, if you purchase grass from a regular nursery, then they may be planted in regular potting soil. You may need to bareroot the plant and replant them in garden soil.
The salesperson also told me that after three days (when the plants balance the water), I should consider getting a couple of goldfish. The fish will keep the bug population down.
What I need now are: 1) rocks to line the bottom of both containers; 2) cut up some bamboo pieces for the taller pot (I'm going to build a bamboo fountain for the pot on the left).
