the rites of spring (planters)

For most of my adult life, the advent of spring has meant a trip to the nursery to buy annuals and perennials for my planters.  As a teenager and college student, I did this at my mother's house, and I continued the ritual at my various apartments in New York.  (When I walked past the farmer's market in Berlin, where I did not have any planters, my fingers would itch.)  Now again, I don't have any planters of my own, so when, this weekend, my sister asked me to plant two pots at her house, I jumped at the chance.  It's a few weeks early to plant annuals, but we both, for different reasons, were eager to plant the flowers today.

 

My sister has a bright-pink front door that will soon be repainted Farrow & Ball's Parma Grey; two brand-new, glossy black planters; and a particular fondness for chartreuse flowers.  My favorite chartreuse flower belongs to the wood spurge, Euphorbia amygdaloides, which is in bloom right now and which gets lovely lime-green cyathia, but euphorbia's happier under a tree; and anyway, for this very hot, sunny spot, we want something that will bloom all spring and summer.  So I chose stonecrop (Sedum rupestre 'Angelina').  The plant nursery only had one big gallon, but the great thing about sedum is that it isn't at all fussy: gently pull it apart, stick it where you want it, and it will be fine.

I also threw in two creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia) to tumble down the sides of the planters.  My sister had suggested yellow potato vine, but I vetoed it: potato vine requires a lot of water to avoid looking like a deflated balloon, and it can easily swamp your whole pot.  By midsummer, the whole thing just looks untidy.  By contrast, creeping Jenny is a reliable perennial, (even) virtually un-killable, but it won't overwhelm the planter, and it still provides a nice, limey-chartreuse color.  

Although I love whites and blues, this spot on the front steps is punishingly hot in the summer, and my favorite blue annual, Lobelia erinus 'Magadi Blue,' would be burnt to a crisp within weeks.  So too with sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima), soft, white, and cloudlike, and one of the only annuals I reliably buy.  Still, I thought, there are a range of purples and violets that I can place alongside the stonecrop, and which will harmonize with the slate-blue of the steps and walkway.  I anchored each planter around a Scabiosa columbaria 'Butterfly Blue.'  A sun-loving perennial, scabiosa requires some deadheading, but if you occasionally lop off the spent flowers, it will bloom all summer long, attracting bees and butterflies.  And the dimensions were right, too.  You want to balance the height of the planter with the height of the plant.  I aim for a plant at least half, maybe three-quarters, the height of the planter: more or less the dimensions of an ice cream cone.  

Scabiosa columbaria 'Butterfly Blue'

I also picked up two False Sea Thrift(s) (Armeria pseudarmeria 'Ballerina Red').  It's an evergreen perennial and does well in sun or part shade; contrary to its name, it blooms a clear, almost salmony-pink.

Armeria pse. 'Ballerina Red'

For an in-between height, I bought a four-pack of Phlox, a sun-loving annual.  (This is '21st Century Blue,' really more of a light purple.)

Phlox

Lastly, I picked up a few Calibrachoa, a hardy mini-petunia that will take full sun, to trail along the edges of the planters.

Sea thrift, creeping Jenny, scabiosa, calibrachoa, stonecrop.

Stonecrop, scabiosa, sea thrift, creepy jenny, phlox, calibrachoa.

Now, for the rest of the yard...