needle palms in whiskey barrels

One of my best friends and her family are heading over from Australia this weekend to stay with us for the next week and a half, and I CANNOT wait to see them!  It’s actually a great excuse to focus on my own home, for once, and cross some items off my seemingly never-ending to-do list in preparation for their arrival.  I’ve been on the prowl for something lush and beautiful to add some interest to two corners of our deck…something with height and volume that was also evergreen, to go in my whiskey barrels.  I got a great deal on two needle palms and thought I’d share my planting process – even if you don’t have a green thumb, you can still have some beautiful containers!

One of my lovely planters….

First up, I flipped it over and, using a 3/16 drill bit, drilled holes randomly all over the bottom for drainage:

I always fill my pots halfway with pinecones….they help with drainage, keep you from having to fill the entire pot with soil and keep it a bit lighter, in case you have to move it.  For me, it’s a great way to use up all the pinecones all over my yard and they’re FREE!  You can use packing peanuts or water bottles, too. 

Soil conditioner and potting soil are all I used:

First, I poured half a bag of soil conditioner over the pinecones and spread it evenly:

Oh, and in case you’re wondering why they’re called “Needle Palms”, it’s because they have a crap ton of spikey needles at the base that hurt like HELL when they jab you.  I cut as many off as I could with pruning shears before trying to get it out of the pot:

Stick the palm in the middle of the pot and pour potting soil all the way around it:

I like to use trailing plants at the base of my containers for added interest; I’d never tried Purple Queen before, but I loved the color so much and they are drought tolerant, once they get going, and grow like weeds, so I picked up a bunch for my pots:

The purple is such a pretty contrast against the bright green palms: