PerenniallyCrazy

Wow! Thank you Michelle. You've really outdone yourself with these photos of Winterthur. So many beautiful photos worthy of being painted or framed and hang to enjoy in one's home. Makes me wish I could be there.

This is totally wicked Darryl!

What lush and attractive combos ... and just right outside your doorstep, too! Get well soon Michelle.

Here are some of the names of the plants in some of the more recent containers. Scroll down to "Five Recipes for a Fabulous Pot" in this link: http://www.phoenixperennials.com/learn/E-Newsletter-June-Mid-2012.php. Happy gardening folks!

Thanks to all and happy 4th!

Meander1 and tractor1: You've captured my sentiments exactly.

JuleMG: I think that is the added bonus of having perennials in containers, they become part of your garden bed at the end of the season or when they've grown out of their containers.

I'm sorry I don't have the names of the plants in each creation - I was too busy "drooling" over them at the time. I hope Shelley can help you with these.

Have a great day everyone.

Thank you meander1, tractor1 and JuleMG. What can I say? Gardening is infectious!

Can't wait to read this book - always up for new ideas. I love container gardening all year round. We even have windowboxes hung on your fence across our windows in between houses just to be able to get more "green" views. Container gardening is like having longer-lasting floral and/or foliage arrangements in on's outdoor rooms all year round and arranging them is so much fun. They can change the mood/theme of the garden from season to season very easily.

Bromeliads and succulents are a match made in heaven. Bromeliads make stunning thrillers in these containers. I so love this post - fabulous colors, textures and composition. Thank you for sharing and looking forward to seeing more of Michelle's creations for I am certain there are more.

OMG Michaele! A truly magnificent garden I must say! Not only do you have the gift of garden (and a very talented and conscientious hubby to boot) but also the gift of gab. GPOD will not be the same without your daily comments as well as these contributions. Wish I could visit in person some day.

Hi and happy gardening to all the regulars too.

What a lovely and charming garden Michelle - definitely with personality and soul! Love your plant combinations. Thank you for sharing.

Oooo, Michelle, love those homemade lanterns.... can you tell us how you made them?

Sorry for the late post. My Mom sends her thanks to everyone! She's away and just found out - quite the pleasant surprise. She adds she misses her garden because it's a concrete jungle where she is currently visiting. I forgot to mention to her that it's been raining daily in these parts so friends and neighbors have been waiting for free cutflowers from her yard.

Impressive cottage garden grown from seed... and even more is Judy's ability to combine business with pleasure... or shall we say pleasure with business.

Heaven on earth! Thank you for sharing.

Thanks again for your compliments everyone! I am blushing. Gardening is bliss and if there's a will one will find a way to do it. Would you believe we got the pots on clearance at a local drugstore chain? Outdoor chairs and tables were a Craigslist find (we got them at 1/10th of the retail price) and these were the impetus to the container plantings around it. It just wasn't complete without the plants if you know what I mean.

I'll see what I can pot up this year. Anyone of you ever sidelined by injury and still wanted to garden? I'd be really interested to know how you got around it. Have a great day everyone.

Hi terieLR. Just read your kind comments. Thank you! I envy your weather in Southern California - perfect for gardening IMHO. Hope to see more photos from your garden again this year.

Thank you everyone for all your compliments and succulent storage tips. We stored what we had left indoors by a south facing bedroom window and watered them once a month. We did find though that we needed more windows (or less succulent containers, the more unlikely choice I might add). We have brought them all outside now for hardening and hopefully they will get their vibrant colors back by the beginning of summer. I will try out your tip on overwintering outdoors Snollygaster. .. and LOL to the "sexpots" comment Tractor 1 and Meander 1. LOL. Thanks again. Have a nice day!

Equally heart stopping with the change of seasons! Congratulations Kielian and thank you for sharing. Hope to see a sampling of the fall, too.

Interesting compositions Sheila! Always have been a fan of yours. I'd love it if the container on your profile picture can be featured as well... and a plant list would surely be appreciated. Thank you for inspiring all of us.

Thank you everyone for your kind comments!

My Mom had no idea that I had sent pictures of her yard and I didn't see this post till yesterday afternoon. I sent her an e-mail with the link and here's her reply: "What a happy surprise! I hope these pics will inspire some other gardeners to be creative with their trouble areas. If I was only 10 years younger and had some $$$, I would be working on my front garden either to make it all roses or all ever greens/shrubs, no grass, just white stones everywhere. For now, I'll just dream on."

This morning, she sent a follow-up email saying: "After my hosta garden was mentioned, NOW, I should go clean it up a little. LOL."

Thanks for the "gardening gene" Mom. I hope I'll be gardening forever just like you and everyone else here!

Happy Birthday Weekend Michelle! Not sure why you want to hide out in a dark corner - life can be like one's garden, it gets better and better - just like your blog.

Thanks for sharing your garden photos Tim - I enjoyed the series and feel inspired. I love your individual choices of shade perennials and your plant combos even more - heartstopping.

@sheilaschultz: I love what you planted up in Pot Inc's container planter (as shared by Todd Holloway in Facebook)! Would you be willing to share the names of the plantings? Perhaps Michelle can feature it on GPOD (if not on glossy)[WISH!].

@cwheat000 and meander1: Thanks for rounding and lightening things up. The comments on the blog have been as entertaining as the photos.

I am in total awe of your garden Sara and fascinated by your photography Janice. I can't stop looking back at these posts. Thank you for sharing these and please keep it up. Wish I had each of these framed as paintings inside my home!

Happy 2nd Birthday GPOD! My day is not complete without it. Thank you and may you have many more blogs to come.

Wow, "cotton candy" in the garden! I must find myself one of these.

Cherry here. Just came home from work and read everyone's comments... Thank you very much for all your kind words. I think you are all in agreement that creating a garden can transform one's house into a "home." We certainly enjoy our backyard even sitting by the kitchen area on a cold rainy day. Happy Gardening everyone.

DROOL!!! What magnificent containers Deanne...I absolutely love them! I don't have all the issues of FG Container Gardens but I do hope that one day you will be editor of one of these special issues and do full page features with recipes of all the fabulous containers that you have created in your design career. Thank you Michelle for featuring these.

Love these windowboxes Lynn!

Thanks for featuring these, Michelle; as with the other interesting daily blogs.

Also love the windowboxes featured in FG's most recent issue. These have inspired me to plant up new evergreen/gold windowboxes. Keep up the great work FG editors and staff!

Could it be Arctostaphylos uva-ursi 'Vancouver Jade'?

Love your vignettes... and makes me in the mood for chicken and pork sates. Michelle, could you please tell us the plants that are in your wall hanging on the 2nd picture?

Thank you very much Everyone! As an amateur gardener, I'm thrilled to know that the gurus and expert panel(I recognize the contributors' names above) from Fine Gardening approve. As such, I am more encouraged to create new containers.

As for the questions on the plants on the first container, here are the plant names:

Lemon Cypress Goldcrest (Cupressus macrocarpa 'Wilma Goldcrest')
Prairie Fire Sedge (Carex testacea)
Coleus (Name unknown as it is corner store find)
Variegated hebe (Hebe andersonii 'Variegata')
Black Scallop Bugleweed (Ajuga reptans 'Black Scallop')
Golden Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea')

The container was made for a friend in 2009 and as far as I know, the lemon cypress was still in a container this year. As a bonus, the cypress has also a lovely lemon scented foliage.

Thanks again and happy gardening!