Westhaven's head gardener shares tips for everyone

Williamson AM
By NANCY MUELLER • For Williamson A.M. • May 16, 2008 

FRANKLIN — This weekend's Courtyard Garden Tour at Westhaven is really about gardening in relatively small spaces and in containers. And Barbara Wise, Westhaven's head gardener, is happy to share ideas that anyone can use.

Plants you can ignore: If you want plants that are very drought-tolerant and also low-maintenance sun lovers, she says to consider Agave, a thick succulent that provides color and texture if not flowers, as well as sedums, which come in different colors and make great ground covers.

"You can basically ignore those," Wise said.

She also likes two types of geraniums, the Blizzard and the Freestyle, which are hardy, low-maintenance versions of geraniums that come in different colors and will drape over the sides of your patio pots more so than traditional geraniums.

Wise said she uses them in tons of container pots that she creates for residents at Westhaven.

Bougainvillea, a flowering vine, is also drought-tolerant, as is the beloved Mandevilla vine. New this year is the Golden Jackpot Bougainvillea. It has a purple flower and variegated leaves of chartreuse and darker green.

"It needs a lot of sun to flower," Wise said. She also really likes the Diamond Frost Euphorbia, a drought-tolerant sun lover that blooms a delicate, white flower well into autumn, possibly through a couple of light frosts.

Made for the shade: In shady spots, caladiums, begonias and Rex begonias are good choices, she said. The Rex begonia is an "old-fashioned plant that is coming back now," she said.

One of her favorites for shade this year is the Bonfire begonia, which is very drapey with a narrow, bright orange flower. It pairs well with the Rita gold fern, a chartreuse plant that will brighten shade gardens.

Another favorite of hers this year is the cuphea Ilavea, a relatively tall flowering plant that performs best when planted in the ground or in larger pots. It will spread out and grow to about two feet in height.

The Flamenco Cha Cha version of this plant produces a purple flower; the Rhumba has a red flower with a purple throat that deepens as the plant matures.

Wise also likes some of the new versions of fushia that are out now. "They are extremely tough," she said. These include the Angel, Earring, Snowfire, Blue Eyes and Winston Churchill.

Taking care of container plants: This season Wise is often using spilanthes in some of her containers. The version in her greenhouse, called "Peekaboo," produces an eye-catching "flower" that looks somewhat like a yellow gumdrop with a dark brown top.

She advises home gardeners to be sure that the containers they plant in have drainage holes. She also says that for container gardening, it is best to use potting soils that are specifically created for containers, such as Fafard complete container mix, Monrovia container mix or Miracle Grow complete container mix.

She said these mixes provide slow release fertilizers and water retaining polymers that will provide greater support for container plants than plain potting soils.