Planters, pots, and baskets

These are expensive nursery purchases ranging up to a hundred dollars or more for complex creations, so I encourage a little personal trial and error. All it then takes is the basket saved from last year; a bag of potting soil preferably including the Miracle Gro fertilizer; and two or three plants up to maybe five for the larger planters.

Not only does the do-it-yourself approach cost a lot less money but you also learn a lot.

Planters come in all shapes and sizes so that choosing the right ones is not easy. Don't be fooled by the very large and grand pots. They are too costly, take too much soil, and they are too heavy. You won't like moving them to a new arrangement in mid-summer if it weighs a ton. On the other hand, we get a number of wide shallow planters from Mexico that only have room for about three inches of soil. That is not enough in Colorado weather, it will dry out immediately unless you are prepared to plant only very few specimens and water each and every day. Choose instead planters with an approximate square vertical cross-section at least eight inches deep.

Don't plant too many in one pot. Remember that they will spread and they all need room for their roots to grow without competition.

This year I experimented with blue Lobelia and yellow Calibrachoa, which also comes in a huge variety of colors from white and yellow to red, pink and mauve. Both spread nicely over the edge of your basket or planter and hang just enough to show their colors and forms. They need regular watering especially when our Pine Valley temperatures soar.

The Calibrachoa flower is an open bell with a yellow center and it always appears to be facing you. But look carefully because the bell is not symmetric, one side is slightly flattened to form an inviting platform for insect visitors, and the flower always grows with this flattened side level at the bottom.

Our planters this year also use a deep red calibrochoa but combined with white Geraniums' and offset with a small green trailing plant (there are several varieties at the local nursery). The largest planter (about a foot diameter and eight inches tall) takes just five plants and the smallest of the trio takes just three. They all sit on the edge of the deck for contrast against the lawn as well as casually marking the spot where a large step might catch the unwary.

Place your planters in groups if you can and the plants, especially calibrochoa, can form a

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