Container of the Year--2017

You would think that a gentle summer with a abundant rainfall would be the perfect recipe for outstanding containers, but it hasn't been a great year for containers in my backyard.

This year, I decided to use annual dahlia's as the filler plant and pop of color in most of my containers.  This turned out to be a serious error in planning.  While the dahlia blooms are bright and beautiful, the plants just weren't happy in the confined spaces of mixed containers and didn't bloom frequently enough to make a consistently attractive single plant.

The best container planting of 2017 turned out to be literally because it was the best container.  I purchased an old chair for $1 at the thrift store, knocked out the faded padded seat, and set a container in the opening after painting it with deck stain.  The dahlia I planted in it promptly died (this happens) so I just stuck a sprig of reed and a leftover diamond frost cutting in the soil and let it go. The resulting contrast between the dark chair and the bright white flowers worked.

Sometimes the best ideas are the ones that just happen!