Uncontrolled Container Plants….

I came upon this group of containers yesterday.  

Pretty uncontrolled plants, huh?

Well, hidden underneath all the plants are actually 4 containers.

AND

they are all mine…..

I know, I know.

How could I have let things get so out of control?

Well, life sometimes gets a bit crazy and other then watering my pots, they didn’t get any other attention this summer.

I didn’t go out of my way to plant colorful annuals this past spring, opting instead for perennials.

My Sweet Potato Vine did wonderfully despite being neglected.  It is a newer variety called ‘Pink Frost’ (Ipomea batatas ‘Pink Frost’).

A single Vinca flower pushes its way through the other plants.  I planted Vinca for my father-in-law, in his garden, this summer before he passed away in September.  He gave me his leftover plants, which I threw in one of my containers.

Purple Trailing Lantana is spilling over and has reached the ground because I never pruned it back.

I also planted White Trailing Lantana, which is mixed in with my Sweet Potato Vine.

Now I must admit, that my container plants are usually better maintained.  But under the circumstances, I think that they did great considering that all I did was water them.

Believe it or not, I used to be in charge of hundreds of of container plants every year (usually annuals).  They had to look perfect because they were in high profile areas.

You certainly wouldn’t know it looking at my own containers right now would you?

I sometimes describe myself as more of a “Do as I say, not as I do” kind of horticulturist at times 😉

For those of you who maybe can’t stand my messy containers, don’t worry.  I have plans for ripping out some of the plants, some pruning and some new additions.

I’ll show you what I did next time 🙂

**********************

My daughter and her husband came over tonight for dinner.  She is definitely ready to ‘pop’.  I remember being so anxious for her to be born (she was 5 days late).

I think it is even harder now, waiting for my first grandchild to be born.

ONE more day until her due date!

I wonder if her baby knows that 😉

Noelle Johnson, aka, 'AZ Plant Lady' is a author, horticulturist, and landscape consultant who helps people learn how to create, grow, and maintain beautiful desert gardens that thrive in a hot, dry climate. She does this through her consulting services, her online class Desert Gardening 101, and her monthly membership club, Through the Garden Gate. As she likes to tell desert-dwellers, "Gardening in the desert isn't hard, but it is different."