Shop for instant-color pots - big terra-cotta containers - includes tip for carting big containers around

Sunset, Spring-Summer, 1996

Just as bonsai gardeners make forests in dishes, Robyn and Don Cannon wanted to make whole gardens in big terra-cotta containers. They did, setting them out on two large decks and a small patio they use for entertaining at their Seattle home. Some are planted for full sun, and some for shade.

The containers pictured here are big (26-inch diameter) and heavy. Don built a round, wheeled trivet for each from 1/2-inch plywood and heavy-duty wheels from a hardware store. The trivets keep the pots from staining the decks and make them easy to rotate.

Before planting, the Cannons fill each container about two-thirds full of styrene plastic packing chips (they don't settle). Potting soil goes on top of the chips.

DESIGNING THE GARDEN

Robyn chooses plants for the garden the way she selects fabrics for interior design: she picks a plant she likes - an apricot-colored begonia, for example - and walks it through a well-stocked nursery, choosing other plants that work well with it.

Her goal is a variety of textures, colors, and habits (upright to draping); she even takes fragrance into consideration. She chooses and freely mixes annuals, perennials, bulbs, and ground covers - whatever will work well for at least a season. The plants are also matched for exposure.

Then the planting begins. The Cannons' typical plant palettes include those listed at right for sun and shade.

FROM PLANTS TO GARDENS

The container gardens pictured here get meticulous care. It starts when Don sprinkles the transplants with full-strength fish emulsion to help ease transplant shock.

Whenever the container starts to dry out, he waters alternately with plain water and with a quarter-strength dilution of the fertilizer.

For the first three weeks, he uses quarter-strength fish emulsion for even-numbered irrigations. In the fourth week, he switches to quarter-strength 20-20-20 fertilizer to force strong foliage development. In week six, he switches again, this time substituting quarter-strength bloom-formula fish emulsion.

Every 10 days throughout the season, he supplements the fertilizer with a dash of micronutrients (sold in the fertilizer section of garden supply centers).

This steady, even feeding program pushes plant growth, which the Cannons direct by pinching and staking. Giving each container a half-turn every day prevents plants from leaning toward the sun. The Cannons deadhead spent flowers every day to keep new blooms coming and plants looking sharp.

On this schedule, plants come into their prime about two months after planting and stay that way until cold fall weather stops the bloom.

After plants start looking shabby, the Cannons pull them out and cover the containers with tarps to protect them from frost damage during winter. Before replanting in spring, they replenish the potting soil by digging in new compost.

PLANTS FOR SUN

* Aster

* Baby snapdragon

* Dianthus

* Dusty miller

* English ivy (several)

* Felicia

* French lavender

* Ivy geranium

* Lemon thyme

* Nierembergia

* Pansy

* Petunia

* Snapdragon

* Speedwell

* Verbena

* Zinnia

PLANTS FOR SHADE

* Astilbe

* Browallia

* Coleus

* Coral bells

* Fuchsia

* Heliotrope

* Lamium 'Variegatum'

* Rex begonia

* Semperflorens begonia

* Strawberry begonia (Saxifraga stolonifera)

* Tuberous begonia

RELATED ARTICLE: Carting big containers around

Moving heavy container plants can be an arduous task. The cart shown above easily totes pots and trash cans up to 19 inches in diameter. This heavy-duty steel cart carries loads up to 200 pounds, and the wide wheels run smoothly over gravel paths. WheelAround Cart costs $69.95 plus shipping. For a brochure or to order, call the manufacturer at (800) 335-2278.