Lush Fall Foliage

So, what's the worst thing that can happen after you sign yourself up for the Procrastinator's Party?  That's right.  Sickness decides to pay you a visit and stay for awhile.  Laid up and stuffed up.  Not much has taken place in the room I should be working on.  However, I wanted to share some Fall planting tips with you instead.
Fall has finally graced us with her presence and that means I get to fill my planters with ornamental cabbage. One of them being the mailbox planter.  I was going to line it from one end to the other with the cabbage, but then found this bright, cheery, yellow sedum that TRAILS.

I wanted to get more bang for my buck and, so, I decided to buy the 6-pack of cabbage instead of the 4-inch pots.  Last Fall I purchased the cabbage in 1-gallon containers to plant them in my window box.  With that size you get instant color and fullness.  The mailbox was too small for that size and with the 6-pk. I was able to fill the mailbox and put two in the window box.

 

If you're impatient like me, you want the lush look as soon as you plant.  To get the lush foliage a bit quicker, all you need to do is cross the plants at the root ball when you plant them.

They should look something like this when you have them in the container and are ready to replace the soil around them.  This way the large heads of the cabbage will be bursting forth with pinky frilliness.  I can't wait to see what they do by next month!

Happy Fall planting!!

Linked up with The Shabby Chic Cottage for:

Ahhhh...Alstroemeria

You can't go wrong with a bunch of alstromeria (Peruvian Lily).  I found mine at Trader Joe's for 3.99 and was able to get two arrangements out of  10 stems.  I tried a new addition and took cuttings from a ligustrum (or Privet) that I have trained as a standard.  Don't know how they will do inside, but thought I would give it a try.

I love the green "berries", but they significantly weighed the stem down, so I thinned them out before adding them to the arrangement.

Here was the result.  Ahhhh......alstroemeria.  See?  You can't go wrong with it!  I bought the bottle from the Goodwill and loved the look of the skinny little neck on a large bottom.  I like them chunky:)

Sitting pretty in the guest bath.  Hopefully it will last until Saturday to greet all my swappers!
Do you have a go-to flower for arrangements?  Please share!