The Soil Sisters
Hey there from the Soil Sisters! We hope everyone is staying safe and healthy during these trying times. We have some new subscribers so we thought we should re-introduce ourselves. We are Elizabeth and Julie and we are sisters in real life. We grew up in OKC, attended Casady School, and went to the University of Kansas. Elizabeth started Adorn in 2014 in OKC, and Julie joined the fun in 2017 in Kansas City. We learned the love of gardening from our fabulous parents.
For Elizabeth, there was life before Adorn that involved suits, high heels and manicured nails. Yep. I was in the tourism industry for 19 years in KC, Austin, Chicago and OKC before Adorn was a seed of an idea. I moved back to OKC in 2003 and have loved living just a few houses away from my parents. They have the best garden where we can help ourselves to their herbs. My husband and I have 4 fabulous, hard working kids - ages 16, 17, 19 and 19. Actually 5 kids...if you count our cute Jack Russell rescue pup. When I'm not digging in the dirt, you can find me planning my next trip - travel is definitely one of my favorite hobbies! Guess I'll have to put that on hold for awhile.
Things you may not know about Julie: I grew up in OKC. I went to the University of Kansas where I met my husband of 20 years, John. I've lived in Kansas City since graduating from college. I have a Master's Degree in Elementary Education. I taught Elementary School for 15 years. John and I have three sons (13, 15, 17 years old) whom we adore. Our oldest is headed to college in the fall. (My, how time flies!) Our middle son, Will, is hitting the roads of KC with his driving permit - LOOK OUT! Our sweet youngest son, Andrew, had open heart surgery in 2015 and has not missed a beat since his surgery. We have 2 labs- Daisy and Ruby.
Working with your sister is just about the best thing ever. We just wish we were closer than 5 hours away from one another so we could actually plant together. Thank goodness for phone plans because we talk on the phone about every day. We share ideas, great plant finds, happy client stories, etc. We are passionate about our work and are so happy to share our love of container gardening with you!
Our favorite thrillers, fillers and spillers for sunny spots
Hi! It's Elizabeth and I live in Oklahoma City (zone 7a) where we have very hot, humid and breezy summers with not much rain. I've listed my 3 favorites for sunny containers below.
Thriller - Chinese Fan Palm
I am slightly obsessed with the chinese fan palm as a perfect thriller for a sunny spot. These bad boys can take all the sun and heat you can give them. Chinese fan palms are my go-to for spaces that require a larger impact plant because of their substantial size. Another reason to adore this plant is the fact that its leaves are tough and won't tear in our Oklahoma winds. Love the tropical vibe - we use it a lot in our clients' poolside planters. The large plant in the picture above is an example of a chinese fan palm.
Filler - Sunpatiens
My favorite filler for sunny spots is the stunning sunpatiens plant! They come in many colors; white, rose, salmon, orange, blush pink, lavender, and red to name a few and each plant has an incredible number of blooms. The leaves on the plant are a pretty dark green and some varieties have a nice variegated leaf. These low maintenance plants don't need deadheading. They thrive in sun, heat and humidity, which is 100% perfect for our Oklahoma summers! They do require plenty of water however; I give mine a drink every morning. In both Oklahoma City and Kansas City, I recommend using these in places that get morning sun only. You can see an example of gorgeous blush pink sunpatiens in the picture above. How fabulous are those blooms!
Spiller - Dichondra Silver Falls
Dichondra silver falls is my favorite for sunny spots because of its silver color. I use at least 2 different leaf colors in each container garden design so this beauty takes care of the silver color. It really stands out against a dark planter. This plant thrives in heat and sun. Love, love, love the cascading habit.
Hi, it's Julie! I live in Kansas City (zone 5b) where our summers are hot and humid. Check out my 3 faves for sunny spots below.
Thriller - Mandevilla / Dipladenia
I love planting mandevilla or a dipladenia as a thriller. Dipladenia is actually a member of the mandevilla family. They are very similar except the dipladenia leaves are smaller and the plant is more shrub like. These tropical, vining plants have dark green leaves and trumpet shaped blooms. I love training the vines up a trellis. They continue to bloom and thrive in the summer heat. My favorite color blooms are red, white and hot pink! They are such fun plants to use around a pool or on a deck in the summer. Talk about bringing the tropics to your backyard!
Filler - Diamond Frost Euphorbia
This beauty is my favorite SUN loving go to filler. This wispy heat loving annual has dainty white flowers. It is drought tolerant and does amazingly well in full sun to part sun. Another reason to love this annual is there is no need to deadhead the flowers, the spent flowers fall off naturally and look amazing all summer long in a planter.
Spiller - Mezoo
I love everything about this sun loving spiller; the light green color of the variegated leaves and the sweet hot pink or red flowers. I love how it is drought tolerant, thrives in full sun and is a trailing succulent. Super hardy and strong! It thrives in Kansas City's hot and humid summer.
If you are not familiar with these plants, they are just a google search away. Hopefully you can find them at your local garden center this summer. You won't be sorry!
Elizabeth and Julie's favorite thrillers, fillers and spillers for shade
Here are Julie's 3 favorites for shade:
Thriller - Macho Fern
I generally love a kimberly queen fern for as a thriller in the shade. The past few summers, I have really loved a macho fern as my go-to shade loving thriller. (Cue the song "Macho Man" by Village People). It comes by its name honestly. I love a macho fern's BIG and BOLD leaves! I also love how this fern's fronds can grow 3 to 4 feet long.
Filler - Caladium
Ahhh...the lovely caladium. I love the shape of the leaf and the variety of colors. It's a gorgeous filler under a majesty palm and can also be a great thriller in a small planter. The caladium checks a lot of boxes for me in regards to container garden design. I like to use at least 2 leaf colors together in a planter and I consider a variegated leaf to be it's own "color" so the caladium's variegated leaf is perfect. I also like to mix at least 2 different leaf textures in a planter. I love how this large leaf size looks against the skinny palm fronds as you can see in the picture above. One of my favorite caladiums is the white christmas caladium which is pictured. Aesthetically, this plant seems to look cool even on a hot day. You can never go wrong with white and green color theme. White and green is the little black dress of the container gardening world.
Spililer - Dragon Wing Begonia
In Kansas City, my favorite shade loving spiller for a container is dragon wing begonia! I love the small bell like blooms in red or pink. I love the glossy, wing shaped leaves. Dragon wing begonias add amazing texture to the planter. At the end of summer, when it is time to switch out the plants to fall, the dragon wing begonia is always one that I am sad to pull out because they always look so full and beautiful still. This plant works well in morning sun also.
In OKC, we don't have many tall trees, so finding shade is a rarity unless it is under a porch. Ironically, I love shade plants so much more than sun plants. Below are Elizabeth's 3 favorites for shady spots.
Thriller - Majesty Palm
If you need a large thriller for big impact in a shady spot, look no further than the majesty palm. Talk about drama! I love the tropical feel it gives to outdoor spaces. The majesty palm is also a great option if you only get morning sun. The afternoon sun is too intense causing the palm fronds to get brown and crispy on the ends. You can find these beauties in the greenhouse section of big box stores. Once summer is over, just dig it out and bring it inside to enjoy all winter.
Filler - Impatiens
I have to agree with Julie on her favorite filler for shade...mine has been the caladium, specifically White Christmas caladium, for the past few years. I'm looking back on pictures and trying to figure out my second favorite. I would have to say it is the impatiens flower. I really love the light pink ones since the colors show up well against the green background. My goal this summer is to try a larger variety of shade plants as fillers. A few that I'm going to use are dracaena (gold star and limelight) and shade coleus.
Spiller - Vinca Major
Elizabeth's favorite spiller for shade is vinca major. Gotta love a plant with a variegated leaf, it just adds so much interest! Vinca major works great in the sun too. I love a plant that will work in outdoor pots for consecutive seasons. Often I will keep the vinca major from the summer planting in the pots and use it in the fall design because it still looked so good. In OKC, our winters are somewhat mild and vinca major will come back in the spring. Great bang for your buck.
Let Adorn Help You
Do you love pretty planters but don't have time to do it yourself? Let Adorn plant seasonal flowers and plants in your outdoor pots and cross that task off your list. Whether it's for your home or store front, we'd love to help. We will start planting summer outdoor pots mid-April in OKC and early May in KC. Give us a shout if you'd like to be our on planting schedule.
Looking ahead to Mother's Day and that perfect gift; we will be offering herb planters filled with 7 different herbs. Please let us know if we can reserve one for you.
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Curb Appeal Shout Out!
We've been helping April Campbell, Owner of Central Park Dog Daycare, with her outdoor pots for over five years. We are delighted that April contacted us for help and are so thankful to be able to fulfill a need in the community. We love helping with the curb appeal for Central Park Dog Daycare (plus we get to play with the cute dogs as they go in and out of daycare - big bonus!). We really appreciate April's comments below.
"For a few years we tried to keep our pots planted and fresh. We quickly found that we couldn't keep them rotated for each season and we often chose the wrong types of plants and flowers which of course resulted in dead/ugly plants! We finally just gave up and left the pots empty year round. I saw a Facebook post about Adorn and I knew this was exactly what our front entrance needed! Elizabeth has been so kind and helpful! She has kept our pots looking AMAZING year round. We constantly get compliments from our clients about how great our flowers look."
We highly recommend Central Park Dog Daycare for your pups! April and her team take great care of the dogs who spend the day there (and their people). They have really cute dog leashes and collars too. They are located at 5720 N. Classen Boulevard in OKC. Do your dogs a favor and check it out!