Saxifrages in troughs - Fall 2011

[James McGee]

I am attaching pictures of the flower pots I wrote about previously.  The 12 inch glazed ceramic pot has survived the winters fine.  The 16 inch glazed ceramic pot has cracked, but is still useable.  The larger glazed ceramic pots all cracked into multiple pieces and were discarded.  I have also included a picture of the 18 inch plastic pot I am trying.  This seem to be difficult to find locally.  I am hoping this plastic pot will be able to withstand the freeze thaw cycle better.  I switched plants around in these pots just this Spring.

James

[RickR]

You will probably have better luck with any bowl shape that has no vertical sides at all.  This will better allow for expansion as the soil freezes, and the the soil can climb up the sides rather than push the sides out.

[Nold]

Saxifrages in troughs.
I don't know why the ones growing closest to the fence die out so much; maybe they don't get as much water or something.
They do tend to grow together rather disgracefully. There is a serious Labor-Management problem in the garden here.

Bob

[McDonough]

Bob, really nice troughs fiull of silver saxifrages, inspiring.  In your trough5 photo, do I spy some foliage of Aquilegia saximontana?

[Hoy]

I am attaching pictures of the flower pots I wrote about previously.  The 12 inch glazed ceramic pot has survived the winters fine.  The 16 inch glazed ceramic pot has cracked, but is still useable.  The larger glazed ceramic pots all cracked into multiple pieces and were discarded.  I have also included a picture of the 18 inch plastic pot I am trying.  This seem to be difficult to find locally.  I am hoping this plastic pot will be able to withstand the freeze thaw cycle better.  I switched plants around in these pots just this Spring.

James

Here we can buy glaceed ceramic pots which are frost-proof. If the ceramic absorbs water it cracks. And as Rick says, the sides of the pots are better V-shaped (or U) than A or O-shaped. The freezing soil has to have somewhere to expand.

Bob, I like your troughs!

[Nold]

The troughs were made using a wooden mould my wife built for me. They're fairly big (and heavy). 75cm long, 50 cm wide, give or take.  Porophyllum saxifrages were my wife's favorite rock garden plant so there are a lot of them here. (In other words, she didn't mind me spending money on them.)
I cover them with chicken wire in winter to keep the rodents out. It works, sort of.
Attached was taken on a frosty morning (-5C), about fifteen minutes ago (so I've been awake for less than an hour), showing Sax. caucasica leaning over the edge of the trough. I think S. ferdinandii-coburgii is here too, and another whose label is buried. A Primula allionii hybrid or cultivar, and in the upright cage, Daphne 'Ernst Hauser'. (That cage is to prevent the little daphne from being mashed by the chicken wire.)
When the garden is on tour all the armor is removed, of course.
(Mark, that aquilegia seeding everywhere is the little one from Rick Lupp, labeled A. grahamii, but non-glandular.)

Bob

[deesen]

The troughs were made using a wooden mould my wife built for me...........

I showed this to mine, the response was "Think again Sunshine"

[Nold]

After I made a trellis ("Why didn't you just buy one?) I was forbidden from doing any construction of any kind. Except the heavy duty work like digging post holes.
Behind the shed there is a flagstone patio which she left unfinished. I tried to finish it, but when I discovered that the steps she built were perfectly level in every possible direction, I gave up. There's a certain unique artistic spirit, you might say, in the design, that I can't get, despite encouragement from people who think I can build things.
Across the path from the patio is an enclosure with a fire pit and a homemade seat; she said she planned another seat for the other side of the fire pit but I couldn't even figure out how to start that, so I did the only thing at which I excel: I filled in the empty space with too many plants.

Bob