Proven Winners Update!

A variety of container plants.. just potted up about 10 days
ago.. imagine what they will look like in a month!

It's been a few weeks since my boxes of Proven Winners plants arrived and I have potted up a variety of containers, window boxes and pots with my plants..

Yet before I share the update with you, I should first offer some background info.. I do blog for Proven Winners (as you can see from the 'button' on the righthand side of my blog page). That means that I write a monthly blog on their website (My blog link) and they also send me several boxes of plants to test each year. This is how garden writers/media know whether many of the 'new' plants are worth their potting soil!

I do get paid to write the monthly blog for PW, but they don't pay me to say nice stuff, rather to voice my opinion.. so, if I don't like a particular plant, I will say so. On the other hand, if I love how any of the plants do in my Maritime garden, I will also share that..

I am LOVING this new 'spiller', 'Frosty Knight'
Lobularia on the left.. check out the funky
variegated leaves! And it does flower too..
delicate lacy blooms in creamy white. That
is a red lettuce in the middle - love leaf
lettuce in my pots.

Many of plants in my pots below are going to be released by Proven Winners in 2013, so this is a sneak peek of some of the top plants that will be available next spring.. I'm just lucky enough to test them a year in advance.. so far, given our crappy, wet weather, I'm rather pleased.. a few of the plants in my pots are random plants that appealed to me at local nurseries.. and a few are veggies that I grew.. I like to add a mix of edibles and ornamentals to my pots, as you can see below.

Also, as the summer progresses, I will keep you posted on how these plants do.. will they put up with the sometimes endless fog and wet weather or if by some miracle, the summer is long and hot, can they deal with the blazing heat.. stay tuned to find out! :)

Besides the nasturtium in the front of the pot, these are
all Proven Winners 2013 plants. That is Supertunia
Watermelon Charm on the right with the glowing red
blooms, Euphorbia Diamond Frost surrounding it with the
delicate white flowers (available now!), Superbells Lemon
Slice on the left and middle with the bi-coloured yellow and
white flowers, Cleome 'Señorita Blanca' coming along on the
left and Purple Fountain Grass in the middle - love the textures!

Here's a squat fiber pot with more Supertunia Watermelon
Charm, Lobularia Frosty Knight, Superbells Lemon Slice,
Coleus Marooned and Lobularia Blushing Princess which
has soft pink flowers, rather than the white found on the popular
Lobularia Snow Princess (also available now)

A collection of pots - dahlias, peppers, 2013 Proven Winners
sample plants.

Here's a close up of Lobularia 'Blushing Princess'.. love
the subtle hint of pink!

A close up of 'Blushing Princess'

Cleome Senorita Blanca.. it grows 2 to 4 feet tall, making it
a great 'thriller' in a large pot or plant it in clumps for non-stop
bloom in the flower border. 

One thing I love about the Superbells and Supertunias from
Proven Winners is that I don't have to deadhead them!! I
was also excited to try out this new 'Pink Lemonade' Petunia (not
a PW plant) and I love the unusual soft pink/yellow colour
combo, but I don't love the smutty petals in damp weather and
the necessary deadheading to keep it looking tidy and blooming
well.. as you can see, after a week of dreary weather, many
of the flowers also look dreary..

Here's a photo of one of my old wooden planter
boxes. This year it's home to three peppers, an eggplant and
a tomato. Plus, nasturtiums, Lemon Gem marigolds
and along the back, a thick line of Sugar Ann bush peas that grow
just 2 feet tall.. Perfect for a patio planting of peas!

Last shot of my 2013 PW plants.. here is Superbells Lemon
Slice close up.. I really like the striped flowers and the
vigorous growth.. I'll keep you updated on how they perform
with the coming summer weather!