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Garden Photo of the Day

Garden Photo of the Day


Bring the indoors outside

comments (3) April 8th, 2011 in blogs

mgervais Michelle Gervais, Associate Editor
14 users recommend
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Photo: Michelle Gervais
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Are you busy planning your container designs for the season? Try bringing some traditional houseplants out into the light. This is a rubber plant (Ficus elastica cv.) I bought cheap at Home Depot a couple of years ago just for my outdoor containers. This is early in the season, so it hasn't reached its absolute full potential yet, but it was fun to mix it with traditional annuals for a big and bold effect. Lots of houseplants work great as ingrediants in mixed outdoor containers, and they love the shade, where it's hard to find bold container plants. My other favorite is crotons (Codiaeum cvs.). Their wild and wacky colors don't even need to be mixed with other plants to brighten up a shady spot.

P.S. - Sorry about the email mixup yesterday! I did post a photo for Thursday. It's here. Enjoy!

Welcome to the Fine Gardening GARDEN PHOTO OF THE DAY blog! Every weekday we post a new photo of a great garden, a spectacular plant, a stunning plant combination, or any number of other subjects. Think of it as your morning jolt of green.

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Comments (3)

sheilaschultz writes: You can't beat tropicals for shade pots. I'm always checking out Home Depot and Lowes for new plant deliveries, 10 buck plants rock! I have a 5 yr old, $8 Yucca from HD that is now 6' tall... almost getting too big for the in/out routine ;) Love 'em. Posted: 12:06 pm on April 8th
GreenGrowler writes: Every year, I purchase a couple palms for brightly colored Mexican Talavera pots on my shady patio. Usually one is overwintered in the living room and put outside the next year. I can get several seasons out of a $10.00 plant. Plus, they flourish outside and give it a tropical feel. Posted: 9:41 am on April 8th
Deanneart writes: Fantastic! I love using traditional house plants in the garden. Calatheas, begonias dracenas etc. look great tucked into shady areas.
Posted: 6:04 am on April 8th
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