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2012 Container Design Challenge Results: Fantastic Foliage

comments (2) March 6th, 2013 in blogs
FineGardening_Editor Fine Gardening Editors, editor
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Click the image to enlarge. Photo: Moira McQuarrie
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Last spring, we decided to revisit one of our most popular themes and challenged you to create a spectacular container that relies on foliage alone-no flowers allowed. The rules were to select three to five distinct varieties of plants and pot them up to showcase what colorful foliage and exciting texture could do on their own without the benefit of blooms. The results are in, and we couldn't be more excited by what you created. Here are the top five that were featured in the magazine, plus nine additional finalists. Enjoy!

THE WINNER

Moira McQuarrie
Hanson, Massachusetts

1. Dragon's eye black pine (Pinus thunbergii 'Oculus Draconis', USDA Hardiness Zones 5–8)
2. 'Dipt in Wine' coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides 'Dipt in Wine', Zones 12–13)
3. Porcupine grass (Miscanthus sinensis 'Strictus', Zones 4–9)

CONGRATULATIONS, MOIRA!
You've won a $250 gift certificate from Garden Artisans (gardenartisans.com) and a $250 Visa gift card from Tropicanna® cannas (tesselaar.com/plants/tropicanna-canna).

Sheila Schultz
Denver, Colorado

1. Variegated smooth agave (Agave desmettiana 'Variegata', Zones 9–11)
2. 'Troy's Gold' plectranthus (Plectranthus ciliatus 'Troy's Gold', Zones 10–11)
3. Sweet Georgia™ Purple Heart sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas 'Sweet Georgia Purple Heart', Zone 11)
4. Golden creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea', Zones 4–8)

Brenda Addington
Suwanee, Georgia

  1. Graceful Grasses® Toffee Twist sedge (Carex flagellifera 'Toffee Twist', Zones 7–10)
  2. 'Caramel' heuchera (Heuchera 'Caramel', Zones 3–8)
  3. 'Black Heart' sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas 'Black Heart', Zone 11)
  4. 'Burgundy Wedding Train' coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides 'Burgundy Wedding Train', Zones 12–13)

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Comments (2)

Deziner writes: I feel the winners this year really brought the bar up ! Very creative and inspiring design compositions. It is always a joy to see how people are making their 'garden goodness' and that Fine Gardening magazine is providing a venue to showcase their talents and passion. We all benefit from their efforts.


Posted: 1:26 pm on May 15th
jacksonlisa writes: Fantastic idea... Really it looking so nice and beautiful. It gives the different looks to our garden. I like your idea very much and i will try it in my garden plans. Thanks for sharing. Posted: 2:03 am on March 7th
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