Here we are in a new year with so much to look forward to. Can't wait to see what all of you come up with for you 2016 containers.
I've been refurbishing many of my containers as days will be lengthening and slowly warming. Many of the dormant plants are starting to show signs of waking up, and some of the evergreen perennial types are in need of pruning/sprucing up.

Here are couple of large containers with Sedum album and Petrosedum rupestre subsp. rupestre 'Angelina'. I cleaned up the dead bloom stalks, I see I missed a few.


I've also added new soil to some of the containers that the soil level had dropped. Been at least 3 years since some of these have been redone. Many of my containers have small types of species bulbs that will be blooming in another month or two. Nice part about it is the bulbs will come up right through the perennials.

What are all of you doing this time of year?

Right now it is all about the Amaryllis. I put 5 bulbs into one of my blue pots and took it up to my Mom's house she is really enjoying them. The 5 in the blue pot were last years bulbs that spent the summer in the garden, then a short dormant period and look how they are all blooming. There were 9 bulbs all together that spent the summer in my garden. The other 4 are in a blue pot at my house they are all going to bloom, too.

We had them planted around the edge of the compost in the nice rich loam there. Some of them almost increased in size by a third.

Wow, Holly that is beautiful. I will have to give that a try. Do you sink the pot into the ground, or just set the pot outdoors?

Pretty!!!! Such a welcome sight in the winter.

Lynn for the new thread. Going to be a great year!

It sure is Julia. I am already starting to work on my containers, so they will be ready for viewing April 23rd.

You place always looks fantastic!!! You front bed under your living room window is wonderful!!

Thank you Julia. I have changed that up just a little. Still has the face pot, but I kind of thinned out some things that just weren't working.

The Lewisia was big and beautiful!!!!

Lynn, Not sure if you picked up on Ric's post about where we planted them. But we just took the bulbs out into the garden and planted them in the ground next to the hardy bananas which is right next to the compost pile. So they had great soft rich soil to grow in. I will say that I didn't treat them very well. Last year I had given them to several family members and friends as Christmas presents. After they bloomed I picked most of them back up they were pretty much all in glass jars with stones. They went into an upstairs room and were mostly ignored with a little watering from time to time. When I took them outside and planted them in the ground they were rather ratty looking but the bulbs were nice and solid. I was happy to see them grow nicely over the summer and this Fall around the beginning of Sept I dug them up. Cut off the top and stored them in open trays till the end of Nov when I potted them up in soil. The bulbs were huge and root systems strong. Of the 9 bulbs I planted all of them are going to bloom and there are quite a few babies that are growing. It will be interesting to see how long it will be till the babies get to blooming size.

Holly and Rick thank you so much for the information, and the details on the entire process. I will definitely be giving this a try.

Lynn, we had enough drought last summer they were watered 3-4 times as well.

I just find that amazing.

for starting this thread. I gave in today and bought 3 tilladansias from a local sale, these are air plants but looks great with my cacti and succulents.

More of the Am's in Mom's pot have bloomed. These are more of last years bulbs that I saved and grew in the garden over the summer. There is another second tier of blooms coming on as well. About the time these blooms are finished there are at least 5 more that will open.

Also a better pic of Mom's huge CC

Beautiful amarillis.
Must remember for next year.

I love the variegation on this one Holly. I only have the red colored amaryllis. For years, they were always planted on the ground and will bloom 2x a year but did not multiply. Then in 2014 my husband "accidentally" dug it up (it was dormant so no leaves) and he split the bulb in two. The bulb healed and had pups??? So now I have more than 1 red but they are still asleep.

I had luck planting the seeds too but I was lax in transplanting them, so they didn't survive. I will try again growing this from seeds if i get a seedpod this year.

Pretty sure that one is Dancing Queen.

Whoa, Gigi those are stunning. And you already know how much I adore that fish.
The other container is great also. But what wow color from the tilladansias. I did not know they bloomed like that. What a perfect match for the fish.

Okay Holly, for sure I am going to try your amaryllis technique. That is just amazing.