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Plant Exchange: Container Gardening, South Dakota Style
By Brenda Johnson
Q: You have been creating container gardens since before they had that name. (You started very young.) What have you learned?
A: Lois Quatier of Yankton has been creating container gardens for 20 years.
“I started by planting geraniums in big pots and putting them along the driveway,” said Quatier.
She has areas of sun and shade, protected and open areas in the yard for annuals and perennials.
Quatier likes color. She displays a wide range of color in her yard but has areas dedicated to a single color. Sometimes she groups plants of same color together.
Quatier enjoys rotating containers around the yard for a new look. She displays her red- trimmed occupied wren house she made with accent red trailing verbena.
Here are some things she’s learned so far about container gardening:
• Large containers need wheels for mobility.
• Trailing Vinca vine can over-winter. In the fall, trim the plant nearly to the crown. Plant the crown in soil. Dig up the crown in the spring and pot it into the container in which it will grow.
• Vinca flowers come in so many varieties, that it is difficult to match the same color. Buy all vincas in the same store.
• MiracleGro potting soil can be re-used in containers. Next time just add your own fertilizer.
• Dead-heading flowers, especially petunias, daisies, and roses, really helps the plant bloom for a longer season.
• Be sure your compost has aged before you use it. Daisies (that had been dead-headed) came up everywhere I used compost.
• The Internet and catalogs have great information about plants that are compatible to each other — same water requirements, sun needs, similar rate of growth.
• Sometimes a petunia shows up among the vincas, even when you didn’t plant it. They’re all worth saving.
• A vine can be grown in a container. The black-eyed Susan vine does well with a tripod of bamboo poles and a rope securing the poles overhead.
• Take a photo of plants you like together and duplicate the idea at home.
• Rabbits tend not to eat plants on raised stands of 15 inches high. A dusting of chili powder also discourages them.
Quatier inherited her love of flowers from both grandparents and her mother.
“My first plant was a sunflower,” she said. “It grew taller than I was. Moss roses that reseed themselves along the garden path remind me of my grandparents. My mother had beautiful dahlias and vegetables, but I haven’t had luck growing them. My three children like flower and / or vegetable gardening. It’s something that can go down through the generations.”
———
Q: A collection of herb planters is outside your apartment building. What’s the story behind them?
A: Patty Taylor is manager of Park 50 and River Heights Apartments on West City Limits Rd. and 8th St. in Yankton.
“This is the ‘grazing patch’ we call it. We (renters) stand outside to visit and munch on the herb leaves as we talk,” said Taylor. “I love to cook and I use the herbs in dishes for tenant gatherings. Sometimes neighbors water and weed the containers. Hail damaged the plants earlier this season but they recovered.”
Taylor continued, “I used to have a big garden. The part I miss about not having a house is the garden. When each of my children was about 10 years old, we’d play a guessing game with herbs. They would be blindfolded and would describe the flavor of an herb. Then they would tell me what food that herb would enhance, meat or vegetables. Then we’d try the combination they thought would work. One of my children is now a profession chef.”
Taylor shares one of her favorite salad recipes with herbs: “To quartered Roma tomatoes, add diced fresh mango, and sweet basil. Toss with a dash of balsamic vinegar added to olive oil. Enjoy this salad with friends or family.”
———
Q: Do you have more tips for container gardening?
A: Container gardening is a way to vary accent color at your favorite outdoor spots. Containers, that is anything that holds soil and has a drainage hole, can be moved from spot to spot for changing color during the growing season. Plant holders with wheels or furniture dollies allow for ease in container transport.
Containers that hold more soil require less watering. Check for dryness by poking the finger into the soil about an inch and add water if dry.
Using a potting soil mixture that retains water as a feature cuts down on watering. If fertilizer is not already in the potting mixture, add slow release granules such as Osomcote as you plant. If you like water-soluble fertilizer such as MiracleGro, use no more frequently than alternate weeks.
While planning ahead for container planting saves time and money, containers can be planted quickly for occasions that pop up. Containers are an economical way to feature some specimen plants.
Choosing the right plants for each container can be daunting. Considerations include plant choices for your color accents, site sun exposure, bloom time in the growing season, plant height, leaf color and texture, and other preferences.
A Web site to help with choosing plants for containers is www.provenwinners.com. A feature tab to consider at the site for selecting container plants is “Container Recipes.” Proven Winners is a quality brand name for plants, but generic plant substitutions can be made as necessary.
———
Q: What’s spooky about your backyard water interest?
A: Lois Quatier of Yankton hosted her yard in a 2008 garden tour sponsored by Missouri Valley Master Gardeners. She has a pond and waterfall in the backyard with water plants and fish that appear to be in ecological balance. None of this is spooky. Exception: Three fish are missing.
Quatier was sitting in the backyard under her pergola listening to the gurgle of the waterfall at dusk in late June.
“All of a sudden, six owls appeared, two full size and four young,” said Quatier. “I think they were Great Horned Owls. They appeared very hungry and not afraid of me. One caught fireflies in the air. I think they were after insects or worms (as they scratched in the lawn). I went inside to get a camera.”
She wanted a neighbor to see the owls, but the owls were gone when the neighbors arrived.
“I saw an owl in the tree another evening,” she said. “Our neighbors’ owl watch had no luck in sighting an owl. The thing is, three koi were missing from the pond.”
If you think this story is a bit fishy, Quatier has an owl photo she took to prove it.
The fish are replaced. Plants in and around the pond appear robust. Quatier selected Cyperus papyrus, Purple Majesty Millet, Pampas grass as specimen plants near the water. She planted cattails at the water’s edge. When they become too thick, she uses scissors to divide them.
“The hardy pink water lilies have over-wintered two winters in the pond, which is open with water flow year-round,” said Quatier. Water lettuce has grown very well. “I recently harvested two five-gallon buckets of the lettuce,” she said.
Quatier works to maintain the balance of fish and plants. (For her and the owls.)
A: Lois Quatier of Yankton has been creating container gardens for 20 years.
“I started by planting geraniums in big pots and putting them along the driveway,” said Quatier.
She has areas of sun and shade, protected and open areas in the yard for annuals and perennials.
Quatier likes color. She displays a wide range of color in her yard but has areas dedicated to a single color. Sometimes she groups plants of same color together.
Quatier enjoys rotating containers around the yard for a new look. She displays her red- trimmed occupied wren house she made with accent red trailing verbena.
Here are some things she’s learned so far about container gardening:
• Large containers need wheels for mobility.
• Trailing Vinca vine can over-winter. In the fall, trim the plant nearly to the crown. Plant the crown in soil. Dig up the crown in the spring and pot it into the container in which it will grow.
• Vinca flowers come in so many varieties, that it is difficult to match the same color. Buy all vincas in the same store.
• MiracleGro potting soil can be re-used in containers. Next time just add your own fertilizer.
• Dead-heading flowers, especially petunias, daisies, and roses, really helps the plant bloom for a longer season.
• Be sure your compost has aged before you use it. Daisies (that had been dead-headed) came up everywhere I used compost.
• The Internet and catalogs have great information about plants that are compatible to each other — same water requirements, sun needs, similar rate of growth.
• Sometimes a petunia shows up among the vincas, even when you didn’t plant it. They’re all worth saving.
• A vine can be grown in a container. The black-eyed Susan vine does well with a tripod of bamboo poles and a rope securing the poles overhead.
• Take a photo of plants you like together and duplicate the idea at home.
• Rabbits tend not to eat plants on raised stands of 15 inches high. A dusting of chili powder also discourages them.
Quatier inherited her love of flowers from both grandparents and her mother.
“My first plant was a sunflower,” she said. “It grew taller than I was. Moss roses that reseed themselves along the garden path remind me of my grandparents. My mother had beautiful dahlias and vegetables, but I haven’t had luck growing them. My three children like flower and / or vegetable gardening. It’s something that can go down through the generations.”
———
Q: A collection of herb planters is outside your apartment building. What’s the story behind them?
A: Patty Taylor is manager of Park 50 and River Heights Apartments on West City Limits Rd. and 8th St. in Yankton.
“This is the ‘grazing patch’ we call it. We (renters) stand outside to visit and munch on the herb leaves as we talk,” said Taylor. “I love to cook and I use the herbs in dishes for tenant gatherings. Sometimes neighbors water and weed the containers. Hail damaged the plants earlier this season but they recovered.”
Taylor continued, “I used to have a big garden. The part I miss about not having a house is the garden. When each of my children was about 10 years old, we’d play a guessing game with herbs. They would be blindfolded and would describe the flavor of an herb. Then they would tell me what food that herb would enhance, meat or vegetables. Then we’d try the combination they thought would work. One of my children is now a profession chef.”
Taylor shares one of her favorite salad recipes with herbs: “To quartered Roma tomatoes, add diced fresh mango, and sweet basil. Toss with a dash of balsamic vinegar added to olive oil. Enjoy this salad with friends or family.”
———
Q: Do you have more tips for container gardening?
A: Container gardening is a way to vary accent color at your favorite outdoor spots. Containers, that is anything that holds soil and has a drainage hole, can be moved from spot to spot for changing color during the growing season. Plant holders with wheels or furniture dollies allow for ease in container transport.
Containers that hold more soil require less watering. Check for dryness by poking the finger into the soil about an inch and add water if dry.
Using a potting soil mixture that retains water as a feature cuts down on watering. If fertilizer is not already in the potting mixture, add slow release granules such as Osomcote as you plant. If you like water-soluble fertilizer such as MiracleGro, use no more frequently than alternate weeks.
While planning ahead for container planting saves time and money, containers can be planted quickly for occasions that pop up. Containers are an economical way to feature some specimen plants.
Choosing the right plants for each container can be daunting. Considerations include plant choices for your color accents, site sun exposure, bloom time in the growing season, plant height, leaf color and texture, and other preferences.
A Web site to help with choosing plants for containers is www.provenwinners.com. A feature tab to consider at the site for selecting container plants is “Container Recipes.” Proven Winners is a quality brand name for plants, but generic plant substitutions can be made as necessary.
———
Q: What’s spooky about your backyard water interest?
A: Lois Quatier of Yankton hosted her yard in a 2008 garden tour sponsored by Missouri Valley Master Gardeners. She has a pond and waterfall in the backyard with water plants and fish that appear to be in ecological balance. None of this is spooky. Exception: Three fish are missing.
Quatier was sitting in the backyard under her pergola listening to the gurgle of the waterfall at dusk in late June.
“All of a sudden, six owls appeared, two full size and four young,” said Quatier. “I think they were Great Horned Owls. They appeared very hungry and not afraid of me. One caught fireflies in the air. I think they were after insects or worms (as they scratched in the lawn). I went inside to get a camera.”
She wanted a neighbor to see the owls, but the owls were gone when the neighbors arrived.
“I saw an owl in the tree another evening,” she said. “Our neighbors’ owl watch had no luck in sighting an owl. The thing is, three koi were missing from the pond.”
If you think this story is a bit fishy, Quatier has an owl photo she took to prove it.
The fish are replaced. Plants in and around the pond appear robust. Quatier selected Cyperus papyrus, Purple Majesty Millet, Pampas grass as specimen plants near the water. She planted cattails at the water’s edge. When they become too thick, she uses scissors to divide them.
“The hardy pink water lilies have over-wintered two winters in the pond, which is open with water flow year-round,” said Quatier. Water lettuce has grown very well. “I recently harvested two five-gallon buckets of the lettuce,” she said.
Quatier works to maintain the balance of fish and plants. (For her and the owls.)
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