Late afternoon light casts a glow on the cool season horse troughs planted with Cool Wave pansies and an assortment of high contrast foliage like Queen of Hearts brunnera and Double Play Candy Corn spirea and Dolce heuchera.
On Gardening:
Creating horse troughs of tantalizing texture By Norman Winter
The Old Town Community of North Columbus is once again schooling us on the use of horse troughs for cool season color, and this year they are maximizing the use of texture. Since I retired from the University of Georgia, my son James, the color design guru for Old Town, keeps me involved, making me feel as though this is my experiment station. In early October as he was planting, I thought he had pushed the proverbial envelope right over the abyss. These full sun containers have annuals, perennials, deciduous shrubs, succulents and plants that require shade. Know this first: Although I am talking old-fashioned horse troughs, you can do the same in your favorite containers. Let’s go over the recipe, concepts and thoughts from the old adage thriller, filler and spiller. Although it is stunningly beautiful now in November, the crescendo brought about by the maturity in March and April will be like the finale at a fireworks display. The thriller, or tallest plants in the troughs, are the deciduous Double Play Candy Corn spirea. These have become favorites in the South with foliage the colors of candy corn. I suspect Proven Winners was really counting on zone 7, but we adore them in zones 8 and 9, too. Although they are dazzling now they will disappear later, returning in absolute glory. Their retreat in the toughs will never be noticed as the other plant partners will be growing and masking the twigs. Winter sun is magical; it lets you use shade lovers that look even more dazzling when brought to the light of day. This is why I wanted to tell you the fillers before spillers. In the South, heucheras, also known as coral bells, really do best if given afternoon shade protection. But that’s in summer. In the winter, these evergreen perennials are simply amazing.
Photos courtesy Norman Winter/TNS
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SANTA BARBARA NEWS-PRESS REAL ESTATE
SUNDAY, JANUARY 2, 2022
