Curious about how to make a blue & white European Dish Garden? What is a European Dish Garden anyway? I can’t wait to share my tips with you!
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From Memorial Day to the 4th of July and on to Labor Day, with birthdays, weddings, and graduations added in, the summer months are full of reasons to celebrate! During the summer, I love to move the celebration outdoors and add some garden accents to the table.
One of my favorite centerpieces is centered around the concept of an European Dish Garden. The secret behind a European Dish Garden is in the way it is put together and what types of plants are used. By definition, a European Dish Garden combines green and blooming plants. They are left in their individual pots and grouped together in a single container. Leaving the plants in their individual containers and arranging them in the container (pot, basket or ceramic type) is a great time saver!
Because it is summer and I live in Florida where it is hot and humid, I am making this European Dish Garden for a specific occasion and then re-purposing the plants once the event is over. In different circumstances, I could make the dish garden and leave it put together for an extended period of time.
HOW TO MAKE A BLUE & WHITE EUROPEAN DISH GARDEN
The first step is to choose your container. You can use any type of container you want. Because I was going to use this centerpiece on our outdoor table, I decided to use my terra cotta pot which sits in a rustic iron stand. I also wanted to use battery taper candles in the candle holder. The pot could be used without the stand if you wanted. This particular terra cotta pot is 10″ in diameter. It is called a bulb pot.
Please take into consideration where your finished European Dish Garden will be sitting. If the container is not water tight, you will want to add a liner or something that will catch the water so it doesn’t leak on to your furniture. I used a small saucer to cover the hole in the terra cotta pot.
To make it easier to design the dish garden, I can remove the terra cotta insert from the rustic iron stand while I “plant” it. Because I was in a hurry to get this one put together before the guests arrived, I did leave it in the stand while I was working with it.
CHOOSE YOUR PLANTS
Normally, I like to use the “thriller, spiller and filler” method of planting. In simple terms, the thriller is the focal point, the spiller adds motion and the filler fills in the “holes”. For this project, I used two Blue Evolvulus plants and one white licorice plant. For the filler, I used dried angel vine. Since I knew this was a short term project, I loosely interpreted my own rules!
Blue Evolvulus is a tender perennial in the same family as the Morning Glory. It has lovely blue blossoms. The leaves are small and oval in shape. I love how wispy it looks!
White Licorice is a drought tolerant annual. Its leaves are silver gray and slightly fuzzy. It looks great with a variety of different plants. It will do well in part sun to full sun. It is very adaptable. It does not like to be wet so you will want to avoid overwatering it.
Because the plants are going to be kept in their individual pots and watered individually, you don’t need to pay attention to differences in water requirements like you would if you were planting plants together in soil. When watering the planter, make sure you water into each individual pot. I use a watering can with a slender spout (sometimes called a gooseneck spout) to reach in to the planter.
The Blue & White color palette was my personal preference . I was looking for something more muted for this occasion to compliment but not over power the flag topped spindles. Any color combination can work. Choose something that works for your celebration!
For Added Texture
To add more texture and interest to the centerpiece, I decided to use dried angel vine as my filler. I used to use this in the flower shop a lot. It is easy to shape in to a circle to make your own wreath bases or a bird’s nest as well as the way I used it, which was to fill in the gaps between the pots.
THE “PLANTING” PROCESS
For the filler, I used the dried angel vine. By gently pulling it apart, I was able to wrap it around the base of the plants. The angel vine helps hit the individual pots so it looks like the plants are planted directly in the pot. The color of the angel vine also blends well with the bronze color of the stand.
The last step is to add battery candles to the stand and place the finished European Dish Garden in the center of your table. I placed the trio of flag topped spindles off to one side.
Save This Pin for Later
After The Celebration
After the celebration was over, I dismantled the European Dish Garden and added the plants to an existing outdoor patio pot. I added the White Licorice to the left hand side and one Blue Evolvulus along the bottom edge on each side. I added the American Flag in the center as an accent for the summer.
The dried angel vine can be reused for another project. Just be sure it is completely dry before storing it. It may have gotten wet when the European Dish Garden was watered.
One Last Look!
Additional Posts to Spark Your Creativity
Here are a few more ideas on European Dish Gardens plus a post devoted to dwarf morning glory!
As an alternative to the candles, you could place a small bundle of kalanchoe blossoms on each candle holder like I did here.
Since flowers are a traditional Mother's Day gift, why not fill a farmhouse dough bowl with a selection of plants for your centerpiece? After the celebration is over, your guests can take one of the plants home with them or you can give them all to your Mom or other family member!
Dwarf Morning Glory Plants are easy to grow and require little maintenance. They're also great for adding color to your garden or patio. They have quickly become one of my "go to" plants! I love the bright blue flowers and the wispy stems! I'd love to share my tips on how to grow dwarf morning glory!
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[…] this natural-colored muslin runner with a navy blue stripe. I also used it as part of the Summer European Dish Garden project pictured […]