Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Exciting changes in the shady corner...

At the same time I built and planted my fern table (written about here), I planted this small oval stock tank with ferns. It previously held Equisetum hyemale, aka horsetail. I loved it for many years, but that love had faded.

Included in the new planting are.... Coniogramme emeiensis 'Golden Zebra'...

Pyrrosia lingua 'Eboshi'

And Blechnum chilense. Not shown individually are Selaginella braunii and Dryopteris affinis 'Crispa Gracilis'Coniogramme intermedia 'Yoroi Musha' as well as Arthropodium candidum 'Maculatum'.

You may have noticed there was an additional short silver (duct-work) planter in front of the stock tank, it holds a NOID Athyrium with wonderful bright new foliage.

You also may have noticed the two tall metal cylinders behind the stock tank...

If you have a freakishly amazing memory they may look familiar. I shared photos last August when I wrote a post about the Rebuilding Center here in Portland. I commented about the possibilities they held and several of you urged me to return and buy them. So I did.

I new I wanted to plant them up and initially planned to fill them with soil.

However after seeing how some of my other metal containers are starting to "pit" I instead begged several 5-gallon containers from friends and built up the height required to plant in one at the top of the cylinder.

I also pounded 4ft tall rebar into the ground to keep them from moving around.

After planting...

For the longest time I planned to use ferns here, thinking the tall cylinders with a hardy fern at the top could be my version of a tree fern. But then I became slightly Bromeliad obsessed and I thought about the amazing plantings at Lotusland. Thus a mix of Bromeliads and ferns it had to be.

And since Rhipsalis is happy in shade I added one of those in each container.

I am thrilled with the result!

Well I was thrilled, then I started to dislike seeing so much of the edge of the metal and decided to add some of the Tillandsia from my recent windfall.

Much better. These Tillandsia were headed for a different project, but I'd decided I wasn't thrilled with that look (to be shared soon) and went a different direction.

This makes me happy!

Wondering what it looked like "before"? Here's a photo from last year...

Zoomed in...

So much better! At least until winter. Unlike the fern table and the stock tank plantings, these will need to be dismantled and taken indoors. I wonder how the ferns will react to that? Maybe next year I'll be back to the original hardy fern idea...

Weather Diary, June 19: Hi 88, Low 61/ Precip 0

All material © 2009-2017 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

29 comments:

  1. This grouping makes me incredibly happy, it's perfection in my eye. The cylinders? Holy crap, they are drop dead gorgeous, and I esp. love the trailing driftwood (?) backed by the Spanish moss. You are good!!!

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    1. Thank you Sheila! I picked up that piece of driftwood (which reminds me of a bit of Manzanita/Arctostaphylos) when we were at the beach for Christmas. I love that it ties the cylinders in with the fern table (sort of). And some of your Tillandsia were just the finishing touch I needed!

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  2. Those are exciting changes! And they look fabulous with your artful flair, as always, Loree.

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  3. Oh yes, I like this new look a lot. I hope the plants don't mind the dismantling phase of things for winter protection. I like the idea of doing a pseudo tree fern thing with those cylinders too.

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  4. You are so creative! Love the shady corner and all the new plants. The Golden Zebra has awesome leaves. I love the bromeliads in the tubes, great idea building up with plastic pots!

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  5. A great assemblage. Some amazing ferns and I especially love the small, purplish bromeliads nestled in with the fern in the back galvanized cylinder.

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    1. I did a double-take on the small bromliad's, too. At quick glance I thought they might be aeonium's, but 2nd look told the story!

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    2. I really tried to have those guys be more prominent, but they just kept getting tucked in. Oh well...if you two saw them that's a good sign.

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  6. Awesome and super creative, love the tube idea and all the galvanized containers! You could also use shipping popcorn (the styro variety) to fill the tubes with to get the inside to the exact height you want. If you put a tall plastic bag in the container first and pour the popcorn into it, they can be easily removed without blowing all over the place. Love your blog <3

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    1. Thanks, I briefly thought about doing exactly that...but thankfully we don't have too much of that stuff around.

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  7. Love your new fern/bromeliad corner and am so glad you decided to buy the two cylinders as they look smashing! The tree fern idea is fabulous!

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  8. AnonymousJune 20, 2017

    The NOID is Athyrium otophorum var. okanum
    ;-)

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  9. So much more interesting this way. Do you have to worry about the stock tank holding water?

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    1. As in holding too much? Or not enough? There are drainage holes, so I think we'll be fine either way.

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  10. The updated shady corner looks great. That new-to-me 'Golden Zebra' fern is wonderful but my guess is that it would wither upon arrival if planted here. I think the approach you took in setting up the tall metal cylinders is smart and will give you flexibility when it comes to care and future updates.

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    1. Thanks Kris, and yes, I fear you're right about the fern.

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  11. Fantastic new designs. I love that you added bromeliads instead of "just" ferns (in quotes because ferns are lovely enough to use nothing else, but the bromeliads definitely add something extra). Hopefully the ferns you used with the bromeliads will tolerate indoor conditions when the time comes. If not, there's your original hardy fern idea, or you can try ferns that do tolerate indoor conditions. Polistichum tsus-simense is hardy but frequently sold as a houseplant, and I think I'll have lots of those Asplenium babies.

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    1. Thanks for the fern tip! And ya, I figured you would be the one to get those Asplenium babies going....

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  12. You're rightfully thrilled, we love it! The stock tank alone looks like a mini woodland setting, then those bromeliads above them for an exotic touch, then the metal planters for a contemporary/modern touch, great mix!!

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  13. No wonder this makes you happy. It makes me happy too, and its not even in my garden. As usual, I'm in owe at your creative vision and love how it turned out. That root (?) hanging from the right planter is a particularly nice touch.

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  14. Yep, that looks fabulous. I'm happy, too. :)

    Good idea to use nursery pots as liners inside the metal tubes. You will want to keep those tubes a while.

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  15. Fabulous, Loree! The cylinders really bring this corner to new heights ;)

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  16. Nice look...especially with that bit of orange peeking through.

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  17. I love this look and all of the creative containers. Now I'm thinking if ways/place to create something similar in my garden. I've been to our re-store but was so focused on the cabinets we needed for our project I totally had on blinders. Maybe another visit their or to the old home salvage store is needed.

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