Planting Containers

One of my favorite things to plant each spring is my flower containers. I love planning my containers each spring then going to my local nursery to pick out all the beautiful plants. Each year I pick a color theme for the front of my house and also the back of my house. For the front of my house I went with a peach and green color scheme. For the back of my house I stuck to the same color scheme as last year (you can check that post out here) and went with brights- hot pink, purple, yellow and green.

Before I got planting I filled by pots with container mix. I did a bit of experiment this year. I bought several different brands of container mix and examined them. By far the best container mix that I can find is the Gerten’s house brand of container mix. I have been using this for years and my pots grow to be a tremendous size and are always full of flowers. In addition to the container mix, I add in extra slow release fertilizer to increase bloom production throughout the season. I also will water my containers with liquid bloom enhancing fertilizer every few weeks throughout the season. One thing with containers is they only have a finite amount of nutrients available to the plants since the plants are confined to a container, so it is important to replenish this throughout the season so you can continue to get big beautiful blooms.

When planting containers I stick to the basic principles of using a thriller, filler and spiller. I am in loved how they all turned out this year! For my front entrance pot, I used a dwarf Egyptian papyrus grass, 3 coral/peach colored Rieger begonias, 2 white bacopa, 2 goldilocks, and 2 hedera ivy gold child. This is my first time using ivy in containers and I am in love. I love how it ties everything together and the over all look. I did a similar color scheme for my front hanging basket with peach/coral colors and added in some bright pink to tie in an area of cascading petunias I have in my front yard.

In my backyard I went with a brighter fun color scheme that screams summer. I have two stumps that I have large bowl pots on near my patio. For these pots I put a small trellis in the middle with yellow thunbergia. I love the look of trellises in pots as it adds some visual and vertical interest. I love petunias because they fill in beautifully and add great color. For petunias I planted cascadia Indian summer, mocha and wave purple. I like to plant calibrachoa when I plant petunias to add variation in flower size. I added in one purple, one pink and one yellow/pink bicolor. To add a little texture and more color I plant some purple verbena. Finally as my spillers I used white bacopa and goldilocks- my two go to’s!

I have two smaller containers that I keep on my deck that I followed this color combo with as well. For these pots I used tall plants in the back and decreased in size as they got to closer to the front. For my thrillers in the back I used hot lips salvia, empire upright yellow Biden, and purple Angelonia. I then filled in the center with an Americana pink geranium- my favorite, calibrachoa, verbena and petunias. I placed a white bacopa in the center to drape down the front.

#ContainerGardening #Gertens

Growing a Giant Pumpkin

About a week after the pumpkin plant was planted.

I have always loved giant pumpkins and it has been on my bucket list to grow one. I thought why not grow one this year! I have the space available right now to grow one so why not! This is a new gardening adventure for me and I am going to figure it out as I go. I plan on writing giant pumpkin updates with what is working and what is not working.

I purchased a package of Dill’s Atlantic Giant pumpkin seeds from my local nursery. I followed the directions on the package and started the seeds indoors 6 weeks before I planted them. This was my first little mistake, but not major. Starting them 6 weeks in advance was way too far in advance. I put 1 seed each in a half gallon pot. Little did I know that even in a larger pot to start out, giant pumpkins become root bound really quick. Compared to other plants, this stresses them a lot and puts out female flowers, which can set back their growth. I should have started by plant indoors only a two to three weeks in advance. Mine started to put out some flowers so I pinched them because I want them farther out on the vine. I feel that my plant is adapting now that it has been in the ground for over a week. We will wait and see how things turn out!

I planted my giant pumpkin in full sun near a large grassy area for the vines to run free. I put soaker hoses around my plant to help with watering as giant pumpkins need a lot of water. I am still learning about the fertilizing schedule that should be done to grow a giant pumpkin. I put down a slow release vegetable fertilizer and compost when I planted and will be feeding fish emulsion weekly. When it comes to fertilizing I think I will have a lot to learn this year.

I am protecting my pumpkin from deer with a pulsed electric fence. The vines are starting to grow through the fence into the grass, so I will need to expand my electric fence.

If you have ever grown a giant pumpkin before please share any advice!

The Skunk and Squirrel’s 1 Year Anniversary

The Skunk and Squirrel is 1 year old! We have had so much fun blogging for a year now! It has gone by so fast. Our blog started out as a fun little hobby to document our fun, and as turned into something so special. We have discovered so many fun accounts along the way. We look forward to many more years to come of blogging.

To celebrate 1 year of the Skunk and Squirrel, we would like to thank our readers by hosting a little giveaway just in time for gardening season. We put together a little collection of some of our favorite garden and home items that we have talked about on the blog this past year.

Entering is easy! There are two ways to enter 1. Leave a comment on this post- we would love to know what kind of content you would like to see going forward. 2. Head over to our Instagram page here and like the giveaway post and follow The Skunk and Squirrel. The giveaway will run from today (05/12) until Saturday (05/15) at 8:00pm CST. The winner will be contacted via email or Instagram direct message. This giveaway is in no way sponsored by any of the brands in the prize package.

The prize package: 9 count package of dahlia tuber, Michel Design Works peony hand soap, the Naked Bee serious hand repair cream, Golden fig pineapple poppy dip mix (a perfect snack after a day of gardening!), Parris Island romaine seeds and cut & come again zinnia seeds.

Cheers to many more years of The Skunk and Squirrel!

Best,

Jake and Rachel