Dressing Up a Deck: Containers Over a Spring-Fed Pond

After enlarging a spring-fed pond on their Redmond, Washington property, Vi and Don Kono added an overhanging fir-plank deck — a serene summer retreat that also gives fish escape from herons. Vi, a landscape designer, dressed it up with two large containers of tropical plants.

One container anchors a side with variegated flowering maples (Abutilon hybrids) underskirted by white bacopa, their finely divided leaves contrasting with round-leafed Indian rhubarb (Darmera peltata) at the pond's edge. The other features Canna 'Tropicanna', its bronzy purple foliage echoing a 'Bloodgood' Japanese maple across the pond.

In fall, Vi prunes the flowering maple back 3 feet and cuts the canna to the ground; both winter in a frost-free greenhouse and return in May.

DESIGN: Vi Kono, Creative Designs, Redmond, WA (425/868-3035)