Disease challenges and solutions

The foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) got aphids which made my roommate very sad because it was flowering prolifically and attracting all kinds of friendly neighbours.  I used horticultural oil but they eventually came back.  Then I doused it a couple times a week for a couple of weeks but I just couldn't get rid of them permanently so I removed the plant and began looking for replacements.  

I couldn't resist this Origanum majorana (Marjoram) with its bright green foliage and delicious aroma.  It also provides a contrasting ground coverage to a small Rosemary shrub (Rosmarinus officinalis).

This last addition was an essential requirement for both my roommate and I as we use this as traditional medicine.  Salvia apiana (White Sage)

Adding Tiny Colour

My roommate expressed an interest in ground cover plants with small flowers to add contrast to the rosemary and lavender I had planted.  

Lobelia erinus cvs. The Lobelia is perfect for this animal trough-turned hanging basket because it cascades beautifully.  I used a mixture of cultivars with blues and whites ('Blue Splash & Blue with White Eye').

Sutera cordata 'Snowstorm'. Also a cascading plant but here I used it in a container to
accompany a lavender (Lavandula x intermedia).
Low maintenance with moderate watering and no deadheading required.

Trifolium repens 'Atropurpureum' - White Clover Dark Dancer.  This is a great filler for the succulents.

Cost Challenges

Without a garden I am limited to containers which can get very expensive so I have been looking for creative ways to contain my plants cheaply.  I had already built several planter boxes from old pallets but I wanted some large containers to diversify my options.  While out searching for something pretty to go in a hanging basket,  I found the following at Berkeley Horticultural Nursery.

Fabric sacks made from a porous material which provides excellent aeration and drainage without costing a fortune.

Then I found this one at West Elm with a slightly difference aesthetic and together they have added visual interest in our urban garden.

Transplanting

I built a second pair of railing planter boxes for the left side of the railing, directly outside the front door.  I originally had several plants in there but they were tall and I wanted to have something shorter for better viewing - I pulled almost everything out.

Here is an overhead view of the 2 beds I built from pallets.  I have placed several succulents, some of whom I have grown indoors, some outdoors.  My challenge now is going to be finding all the names of them since I have never kept the labels and some I have had for years.

I'll move them around a few times and sit with them for a few days before I finally decide where to place them.

I left this one in (name unknown at this stage) - it just bloomed for the first time since I bought it from the Berkeley Botanical Garden.  It's beautiful and it will be the only tall plant in this double-bed of succulents:

I also transplanted the following into some large plastics pots at had left over from my summer vegetables.  It's not ideal since I do not care for the plastic look but it will suffice for the time being:

I haven't found out what this is yet but it has has been blooming for a couple of months - I dead-head the old flowers and it continues to grow taller and bushier.

I coupled it with this prickly cascading plant.

I think this is a Pennisetum setaceum from the Poaceae family, common name Fountain Grass, which has just begun to bloom.  I transplanted it and I hope it establishes and does well.

I am my own client

I am neither a landscaper nor an expert on plants or gardening - I am, however, a lover of all things that root themselves in the ground - always have been.  I have grown indoor plants for years, mostly succulents, but I have never ventured into outdoor blooming plants.  I'm finding more excitement in outdoor gardening than I thought I would, I suppose I always found it a bit intimidating and rather impossible.

For the purposes of this project I am posing as my own client and in this way I can think of the space and the choices to make more objectively.  I am working with a small space in the front of an apartment which is south east facing.  The space is long and narrow with a window/wall on one side and an open railing on the other.

I began in the spring of 2013 by growing a few vegetables - yellow peppers, jalapeño peppers, lemon cucumbers and tomatoes.  I continued to collect succulents and eventually decided to put some together in a large pot I picked up cheaply and added them to the space.

I didn't add anything else for awhile - the vegetables did their thing and the manager of the building had some rather unattractive plastic pots with some impressively large succulents and I left it at that until I decided to build a couple of planter boxes to attach to either side of the railing and I could start to put some colour together that would attract the locals:

Digitalis pupurea, common name Foxglove.  I have found it to be listed sometimes in the family of Scrophulariaceae and sometimes in the family of Plantiginaceae.  When I initially planted this it had a tall, blooming stem which snapped within a few days, since then a couple of more stems have grown and are blooming.

Also, this plant attracted ants and aphids so I will have to find a remedy to this - my partner tells me that ants farm aphids which was news to me!

This is a spring and fall blooming Cuphea hyssopifolia from the Lythraceae family, common name Mexican Heather, that I planted on the inside railing box.  This along with the Foxglove have attracted some local pollinators.

I haven't found out what this is yet.

Perovskia atriplicifolia from the Lamiaceae family, common name Russian Sage has been a big attraction for bees 

and offers a delicious aroma.

I planted this Lobularia maritima, common name Sweet Alyssum from the Brassicaceae family, as ground cover between larger plants in the boxes.