May Tips for a Successful Potted Garden
Windy City – No Not Chicago
Tips to safeguard your HOT Potted Garden
I love watching wind farms! There is something graceful and mesmerizing about them. They are indicative of the strong winds we consistently have in our communities. As weather systems come through bringing high winds, we find those areas of our homes that create a wind tunnel threatening our potted garden.
3 Ways to protect your pots from the winds tipping factor.
- A pot with a broad base is your best solution to pots blowing over in our high winds. Place vase-shaped containers in protected patio corners or near a protected front door. The pot pictures to the left is not safe in windy areas!
- Plant tall plants in well ‘seated’ pots. Pots, as described in #1 above are your best solution to any tree form, tall shrubs or grasses. Thick canopies of these types of plants will act as a sail in strong winds, so they are best suited to ‘grounded pots.” This pot is 32″ wide with a broad base.
- If high winds are in the forecast, water your pots in well. The added water weight will give your pot much more ballast when challenged by windy conditions.
Worry-Free Summer Desert Pot Design – Just add water
Looking for a gorgeous, colorful flower pot for the long summer? Plant a healthy combination of heat-loving plants and enjoy it all summer long.
Here is a grouping that will stand up to a full summer of heat. The 28” pot pictured above shows off with overflowing Vinca in red and white, White Summer Snaps (Angelonia) with a Silver Queen Euonymus shrub planted as a permanent structure in the center of the pot.
If you one side of the pot faces east or north making it a little cooler, you can add a Million Bells (Calibrachoa) that as shown on the bottom right of the picture as a trailing plant. If you know your summers are scorching with weeks of 110+ degrees, they may be best suited to fall seasons or higher elevations.
This combination is simple to care for because it does not need much deadheading. The Vinca blooms will fall off on their own. A little pruning of the Summer Snaps encourages them to grow to their full maturation in monsoon season.
Above is another picture of the same planting from the opposite side giving you a good view of the Summer Snaps and Silver Queen.
Roses – Not to Worry
It’s getting hot, but it can be sweltering if you’re a rose bush. Although roses grow beautifully in the desert, this heat takes its toll. Don’t expect your roses to bloom in the middle of the summer and remember to cut the amount of fertilizer in half from June through August. This practice allows your rose bushes to rest during the heat of the summer.
Here are a few hints to maintain beautiful rose plants over the next few months:
- Water, water, water!!! Be sure the water gets down to the roots. If possible, submerge the container in a bucket of water to saturate the soil. Once well-watered return the container to its original location.
- Mulch, mulch, mulch!!! Mulching with an organic mulch like straw, compost, chipped bark, western ground cedar, or pine needles helps keep the soil cool and retain moisture.
- Use the hose on the gentle or mist spray nozzle setting to sprinkle your plants several times a day for added moisture and insect control.
- Do not prune the leaves. The leaves help shade the canes and hold moisture. Pack rats have been known to eat the new growth on your bushes, if this is the case, contact a pest control company. Always remember to deadhead when necessary.
- You might like to try shade cloth during the worst heat of the day. The fabric keeps the sun off, the heat down, and the humidity up.
In September return to your regular amount of fertilizer and continue applying these nutrients until November.
Once the monsoon rains begin, your roses will respond to nature’s rain and humidity.
But September is a long ways off. Be mindful of your garden. Enjoy it in the early hours of the morning and again as the sun goes down.
If you missed your Checklist for May, you can get it here.
Thanks for reading! Happy Potting!
Marylee
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We have had a hot start to the southwest U.S. desert this spring. Many of you might be saying, “What spring?” The entire southwest has been running 10 degrees above normal jumping us into an early period of the 90’s. I have heard too many people already complaining about the heat.
Because the desert summer sun is so intense, even your sun-loving plants prefer a little shade. Place pots under a lightly leafed tree such as a Mesquite tree for that dappled light.
As you would expect, the key to success in your hot desert pots is water; consistent, plentiful water. If you water your pots with irrigation, set it to come on about 4:00 am and water before the lines heat up in the sun.
If you do lose some plants to the heat, don’t leave the dead or dying plants in the pot. All that does is make you feel bad. It also can keep telling you to do more work and replace the plants. My motto has always been, Better Dirt Than Dead.
If you missed your Checklist for May, you can get it 
Pictured here is a blank slate of a common, albeit boring fence in a desert backyard. It borders a grassy area adjacent to a rocked space that is the view from the back door and kitchen crying for the ‘right something’ to be added.
will not only provide you with an easier solution other than cactus but will give you that desired living color focal point in your desert landscape all summer long.
We see Bougainvillea all over our desert landscapes. With a larger number of patio homes, these large plants are often too unwieldy to support in the patio landscape. Desert Dwellers often ask about planting Bougainvillea in pots so they can enjoy them year-round in hot climates. However, Bougainvillea are seriously particular, so follow these tips to increase your chances of success!
Did that headline make you feel guilty? I know it’s been/is hot, and humid in many areas and for some, monsoons have brought major rains. Who wants to go outside to do more than the absolutely necessary tasks? 
Cacti and Succulents
