February | 2017 | HORTUS 2: There is life after retail

….with colourful summer planters! But first, here I am with my big sister in the Gatineau hills. She’s holding the leaf; I’m eating an apple. My two loves: the outdoors and food.

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Successful summer planters are full and lush. They are also fearless and creative….

This is the planter that undergoes seasonal changes at True Loaf bakery on Gladstone in Ottawa’s centretown. If you crave chewy, flavourful, delicious and inventive bread, both savoury and sweet, this is your destination!

This planter combines white cosmos, buttery yellow petunia, golden Carex, white Gaura, ‘Diamond Frost’ euphorbia, a hit of fire-y zinnia, ‘Tiger Eye’ sumac and the blades of Acidanthera. It probably didn’t need the orange-red zinnia, or else would have benefited from more plants of that colour. Oh well – live and learn.

As you can clearly see, I can’t get enough of yellow, chartreuse, green and white, so this is my garden in the early summer. Incorporating a large pot into a garden planting can be very rewarding and can afford a big statement, that can be changed according to the season.

This is a family garden, where kidlets enjoy the raised pond and lawn play area while the adults appreciate the colourful planters. Grouping smaller planters like this into a vignette makes a bigger statement than just one. As you can see, the blue-silvery planter is raised on a simple metal stand, giving it extra height and presence.

Planters can be anything — this one uses an antique bucket to great effect and is very much a part of the garden display in a plant nursery in Hudson, NY.

The same nursery, this time with a large copper tub acting as planter, along with a vintage red truck. Such whimsy! When you’re building your arrangements, think about coloured foliage as much as you think about flower colour….

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This mirrored planting shows the value of both scale and foliage. Palms provide bulk and height, massive ‘Gryphon’ begonias (large, palm shaped leaves) provide texture and a metallic quality, ‘Bonfire’ begonias shout red and English ivy trail. This is the perfect combination for a sheltered, shady porch.