Why stick to that same tired old cut flowers and candy for Valentine’s Day when you can plant something living for your Valentine? Many of these suggestions will be around for years to come, so you can remind your Valentine of your love every day.
You can create a beautiful Container Design for your Valentine. All you need is:
- A Container
- Potting Soil (don’t use garden soil)
- A tallish plant
- A few draping plants
- Fertilizer
Here are the fixin’s for a sun container. A 1 gallon Princess Flower for the back, and a couple of lavender bacopa for the front and voila!
You can do the same for a sunny spot. A 1 gallon Kangaroo Paw with a couple of 4″ lithodora. Here is the result.
Yes, I cheated – I didn’t pot up these plants, just laid them out in the nursery for my photo shoot. My Valentine has plenty of container designs, I kind of have an addiction … he likes candy anyway.
You could also make a beautiful Succulent Container Design too – if you live inland make sure that containers with a lot of pink or red succulents get some shade. They can’t do full sun.
Now if you would rather plant something in the landscape, there are plenty of pretty choices these days. Make sure that you select your plant based on sun exposure and don’t forget to read the label so you know how big it gets. One of my biggest pet peeves is when a plant that grows to 4′ wide is planted in an 18″ space. You will never enjoy the full beauty of your plant that way. All you need is:
- A carefully selected plant
- A shovel
- Compost
- Fertilizer
Here are a couple of pretty choices I found today:
This is a Dwarf Bottlebrush, attracts Hummingbirds like crazy and actually blooms quite a bit. It stays a nice 3′ tall but give it space as it can spread out to 5′ wide. It likes full sun, but can do with a half day of shade in our hot weather. The botanical name is Calistemon citrinus ‘Little John’.
What about shade you say, well how about planting this beautiful Loropetalum (Chinese Fringeflower)? This one has lovely Valentine pink flowers and burgundy leaves. The desert areas need full shade, but near the coast you can fudge a little. This isn’t a petite plant it gets about 4′ tall and 4′-5′ wide.
And last but not least, if you are looking for a stunning later winter/early spring blooming vine you can’t go wrong with Hardenbergia (Lilac Vine) this is a full sun, evergreen vine that needs support to spread but it is mostly care free and as you can see certainly a show stopper.
Well, I hope that I’ve inspired you a little. I made one trip to the nursery, and spent only about 30 minutes to find the plants I’ve shown above. So… last minute isn’t a problem with a selection like this.
Garden Design, plant consultation, or hardscape discussion we can share them all! I love collaborating with my clients to help them create the garden of their dreams. You will be amazed at what you can do when you have a partner in landscape design crime. Give me a call at 661-917-3521 or visit my website and contact me there.
