Monday, September 14, 2009

New Inspiration for Fall/Winter Containers


By Ann Murphy

I have a container on my front door step that is need of a major overhaul and several others that are begging for some new inspiration so I stopped by Ferguson's Fragrant Nursery's new Lake Oswego location to take in a class on creating fall and winter planters. Ferguson's is renowned for its bountiful containers and the class offered some interesting plant selection ideas. They also sell a sheet of moss by the foot for lining wire containers. It's the first time I've seen the product and I like how it looked--it's enhanced with some green paint so the mossy look doesn't fade--and it looks like it is a lot easier and faster to use than bags of moss. The class also emphasized plants that look good year round as the bones of the planter; all you have to do is freshen up the color spots for seasonal interest. This class will be repeated at the Lake Oswego store on Sunday, Sept. 20 at 11:30am.

There are many more fall and winter container workshops offered at other Le Tour nurseries:

♦ Farmington Gardens offers a "Girlfriends' Afternoon Getaway: Awesome Au Courant Fall Container Gardens" on Sat., Sept. 19 at 3pm. Registration is required (503.649.4568) and there is a class fee ($10).
♦ Garland Nursery offers a winter interest container seminar on Sun., Sept. 20 at 1pm.
♦ A class I wish I could get to is "Planting Fall Edible Containers." It's taught by author Rose Marie Nichols Magee (I LOVE her name!) at Nichols Garden Nursery on Sat., Sept. 19 at 1pm.
♦ I will be heading out to Out in the Garden Nursery for owner Carol Westergreen's one-on-one help to create fall and winter interest planters. She grows great plants and it's a wonderful opportunity to meet one of our local small growers. She's available 10am-4pm, Mon. through Friday to help you create something wonderful while taking advantage of her Le Tour specials. She'll be selling her plants at the Hardy Plant Society Sale the weekend of Sept. 19 & 20.
♦ And last but not least is Shorty's Garden & Home in Vancouver, a wonderful garden center to visit! They will focus on fall container gardening on Sat., Sept. 19, 10am-noon.

Our porches, decks, patios and terraces will look so good and will keep us happy for months to come!

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