Wednesday 12 September 2012

A cascade of violas.

I have mentioned this book before as my current favorite gardening book and I can't recommend it highly enough, if you are a very experienced gardener it is maybe not for you, although I think there are good ideas for everyone in there, especially the novice who wants to create lovely looking garden ideas.
It is called Sweet Peas for Summer


and she approaches gardening ideas a bit like a recipe book, a list of 'ingredients' and a method.

This week I did one of her ideas which is a cascade of violas.

You take three pots of different sizes and fill them with compost, fitting each pot inside the bigger one. Violas are dead cheap at the moment and a pack of 20 plugs cost me just £2.70. I then filled all 3 pots with them and can't wait for them to all grow and flower, creating their cascade.


These of course are done with the brilliant pots that I got free from a kind person on freecycle, so this little project really did cost me just £2.70. I filled the bottom of the pots with some of the stones from the ground for crocks and then put in some of the turf that I have saved from my many other gardening projects and just filled the top sections with good quality compost. I will show you an updated picture in a few weeks to see how it is looking.

12 comments:

  1. Great idea, I saw something similar in a book I have about green potted plants.
    This book looks lovely ! I have seen this name somewhere, I think I bookmarked a page by Laetitia, I'll have to look it up.
    Found it : http://www.laetitiamaklouf.com/
    I haven't had time to browse her whole blog, but I will during the next holidays !

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    1. Yes, I find her pretty inspiring. I've scanned through her blog and it is pretty enjoyable I think.

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  2. What a great idea, and I love violas, they just seem to go on and on and take whatever the weather throws at them.

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    1. And the weather is throwing a lot at them from the outset!

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  3. I love catching up with your garden, you have some great ideas for it. The raised bed looks very tidy. A job well done.

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    1. Thank you, I am pleased with the result and there is something about physically working hard for hours that makes you appreciate the result even more.

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  4. I have done that with trailing lobelia and three pots and it looks brilliant. Like the idea of the violas though and they would last a long time.

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    1. Trailing lobelia sounds lovely too. In fact there must be no end of things that can be planted in this way. lots of future projects.

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  5. Dan, the gardening ideas are fab! I have a book that I would like to offer you. It`s more for the veg gardening, but could be useful. It`s SQUARE FOOT GARDENING by Mel Bartholomew. If you are interested send me an e-mail with your mailing details. I`d be happy to send this book to you.
    I`m de-cluttering the book shelve at home and thought you might like this.

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    1. Thank you so much Sarina, such a very kind thought.

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  6. What a good idea I am sure it will look great once it has filled out - it sounds like a book I would enjoy reading.

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    1. I think everyone could get something from it.

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