Container Mania Continued!

I'm continuing my ramble about containers, but have now moved from the front porch to the back patio, which held a collection of several more!

This 'Amethyst' Ivy Geranium and 'Safari plum' Nemesia fruticans made a very appealing combination.

I added a 'Blackie' Sweet Potato vine (Ipomoea) and 'Silver Falls' Dichondra. This is a combination that I'll be sure to use again.

Here's another Diascia - 'Little Charmer'. It bloomed all the way from spring through fall, and looked so pretty with the 'Marguerite' Sweet Potato vine. Also in this container was 'Icicles' Helichrysum thianschanicum which you can see in the upper right hand corner, and an ivy geranium which doesn't show in this photo. 'Pink Morn' Petunias were tucked in there too.

The delicate faces of the Diascia (AKA Twinspur) a little closer.

Here's a better view of 'Icicles'. I love the silvery foliage! This is one of the plants I'm trying to over-winter and so far it's doing very well. The purple plant in the background is Persian Shield, another plant I've been happy with in containers.

I found this 'Soprano Lilac Spoon' Osteospermum at my favorite nursery last spring and fell in love with its rather alien shape. I combined it with purple Verbena, English Ivy, 'Easter Bonnet Deep Pink' Alyssum....

.....'Blue' Bacopa with it's tiny, delicate flowers, and another Osteospermum - 'Astra Rose'.

This Osteo is 'Soprano Purple'.

It combined nicely with 'Silver Shield' and Heliotrope. I was disappointed with the blooms of the Heliotrope, but have since learned (again from Marie) that it shouldn't be allowed to dry out because this causes the flower clusters to go brown, like mine did. The other 2 plants are heavy drinkers (a bad habit even for a plant!) and it was hard to keep up with their water needs during the hot weather. The Silver Shield grows quite large and needs to be pinched back.

Here's a noon-day sun shot taken in late September. The chartreuse trailing plant on the right is Lysimachia (Creeping Jenny), which I planted in a garden to over-winter.

This lovely white Bacopa combined nicely with a soft lilac pink Nemesia. There were also purple, pink and white Petunias and an Ivy geranium in this container, not visible in this photo. The little calico kitten was adorable but sadly, she disappeared, along with a little orange kitten, some time before Christmas. I suspect one of the mother cats took them hunting and lost them. It's frustrating when that happens but it's something barn cats occasionally do, and there's nothing we can do to stop them.

Here's the Purple Shield, combined with the daisy flowered pink Argyranthemum (Marguerite), a dainty pink Bacopa, and 'Pink Morn' Petunias. This is another bright sun picture.

The same plant photographed around 5:00 PM, and 2 months later (late August). The leaves of the Purple Shield look much greener.

As you can see, I spent a lot of time planting containers last spring! Two weeks into June I had this many finished......

.....and 2 weeks later (fitting the planting in when time allowed) I was finally done! Then I moved them around to their permanent summer homes.

We just have February, March and April to get through before it'll be time to go plant shopping again. It's only 3 months, but it will seem like forever!

Wandering through glorious greenhouses filled with beautiful blooms and wonderful scents is my idea of Heaven.....

.......I can't wait!