I am completely in love with my new fern bowl, it makes me giddy every time I look at it. Rather than build up to an after shot I'm just going to go ahead and share one right away...
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I have Alison, of Bonny Lassie fame, to thank for this big (20.75") metal bowl. Last spring she asked if I was interested in it and I said yes. Last summer it just leaned up against the back of our garage, in the shady corner (it's visible in the second half of this post). I knew what I wanted to do with it back then, but I guess I was just waiting for the right time to tackle the project.
First things first, I asked Andrew to drill three holes in the center for drainage, it's already dirty because I'd been experimenting with different plant combos to see what I liked.
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Here's a close up of the edge detail.
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And a side shot to give you an idea of the depth I had to work with.
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Collecting of the plants that ended up in the bowl had been going on for months—since last summer. Back then I thought they were destined for the shady section of lawn I planned to remove (approx. 4ft x 3ft). Since I don't have time to tackle that project, planting them in the bowl was a great option.
Dryopteris sieboldii, from Sebright Gardens.
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Two Asarum maximum 'Ling Ling', the one on the left has normal sized leaves, the one on the left has humongous leaves.
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A Pyrrosia sheareri.
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With the cutest new growth.
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And a bonus Thalictrum 'Evening Star'. The Pyrrosia came from Cistus, purchased last November. Did the thalictrum seed in there, or in my garden? I guess I'll never know.
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I have a tag for this cute little fern somewhere, but couldn't locate it in time for this post.
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Pyrrosia polydactyla (blurry photo, not a blurry plant)
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And a couple extra long, curly, Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens' which I bought for another project but didn't end up using.
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Time to plant! The root "balls" on two of the ferns were too tall for the bowl, so I had to kind of split them and splay them out.
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Other plants were laid on their sides.
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It all made sense once I started filling up the empty bits with soil.
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I bought a couple of short, wide, metal cylinders last September at BBC Steel (written about here). One of them was called into use as the base for the bowl.
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Knowing metal resting on metal doesn't exactly allow for a secure grip, I added a rim of rubber tubing to the cylinder.
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That's better!
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And now a few glamour shots...
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Rather than cover the soil with pea gravel I'm collecting bits of moss, lichen, sticks and bark.
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Towards the end of planting I added a pair of Trachelospermum asiaticum 'Ogon Nishiki' for color, and so pieces of plants would fall over the edge. I had two Trachelospermum growing elsewhere that I wanted to move so it worked out splendidly.
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From above...
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From afar...
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I'm so happy with the results. Thank you for the bowl Alison!
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Weather Diary, May 23: Hi 81, Low 55/ Precip 0
All material © 2009-2019 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.
I have Alison, of Bonny Lassie fame, to thank for this big (20.75") metal bowl. Last spring she asked if I was interested in it and I said yes. Last summer it just leaned up against the back of our garage, in the shady corner (it's visible in the second half of this post). I knew what I wanted to do with it back then, but I guess I was just waiting for the right time to tackle the project.
First things first, I asked Andrew to drill three holes in the center for drainage, it's already dirty because I'd been experimenting with different plant combos to see what I liked.
Here's a close up of the edge detail.
And a side shot to give you an idea of the depth I had to work with.
Collecting of the plants that ended up in the bowl had been going on for months—since last summer. Back then I thought they were destined for the shady section of lawn I planned to remove (approx. 4ft x 3ft). Since I don't have time to tackle that project, planting them in the bowl was a great option.
Dryopteris sieboldii, from Sebright Gardens.
Two Asarum maximum 'Ling Ling', the one on the left has normal sized leaves, the one on the left has humongous leaves.
A Pyrrosia sheareri.
With the cutest new growth.
And a bonus Thalictrum 'Evening Star'. The Pyrrosia came from Cistus, purchased last November. Did the thalictrum seed in there, or in my garden? I guess I'll never know.
I have a tag for this cute little fern somewhere, but couldn't locate it in time for this post.
Pyrrosia polydactyla (blurry photo, not a blurry plant)
And a couple extra long, curly, Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens' which I bought for another project but didn't end up using.
Time to plant! The root "balls" on two of the ferns were too tall for the bowl, so I had to kind of split them and splay them out.
Other plants were laid on their sides.
It all made sense once I started filling up the empty bits with soil.
I bought a couple of short, wide, metal cylinders last September at BBC Steel (written about here). One of them was called into use as the base for the bowl.
Knowing metal resting on metal doesn't exactly allow for a secure grip, I added a rim of rubber tubing to the cylinder.
That's better!
And now a few glamour shots...
Rather than cover the soil with pea gravel I'm collecting bits of moss, lichen, sticks and bark.
Towards the end of planting I added a pair of Trachelospermum asiaticum 'Ogon Nishiki' for color, and so pieces of plants would fall over the edge. I had two Trachelospermum growing elsewhere that I wanted to move so it worked out splendidly.
From above...
From afar...
I'm so happy with the results. Thank you for the bowl Alison!
Weather Diary, May 23: Hi 81, Low 55/ Precip 0
All material © 2009-2019 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.