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It seems that my vegetable containers seem to escape deer, rabbits and other critters that would normally feast on them in the big gardens. About 30% of my containers are veggies and the remaining 70% are flowers. I like to feed my soul and my artistic eye.
These veggie containers need staking up just like in the garden, so I put my tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers in the largest containers I have. I put 3 long stakes in each one and connect them at the top with a wire. This year I put small inverted clay pots on top of the stakes and they did the job and looked really lovely.
I keep my eye on the growth and tie up what needs to be tied up. By the end of May, we are eating tomatoes and peppers. The cucumbers are loaded with blossoms and need constant tying up. The smaller pots always get the annual herbs. This way we have some extra to give away to a garden visitor. Nothing delights both the giver and receiver than a nice pot of oregano, parsley, basil or watercress. Our perennial herbs are down in raised beds in the Mediterranean fashion which consists of half soil and half gravel. They do well in these. You can also do the same mix for your perennials. Just remember to use your largest pots.
Last year, for the first time, I was able to save one of those lovely Christmas Rosemary trees that come out around the holidays. I was able to harvest the rosemary and I trimmed off all the dead branches. I was left with a lot of new green growth on the top. Rosemary likes to be watered, but does not like its roots wet. So I replanted it in a big container and added some plants that survive dry heat, such as portulaca and this little purple hanging flower called Lobelia.
There is just a little more to remember about container gardening. To keep your plants from looking bedraggled, get out your scissors and dead-head your flowers as soon as they begin to wilt and fade. I usually just use my fingers to pinch off as I walk by. I watch out for pests and pick them off as I walk by. Just remember to know the bad bests from the good pests. You may want to check out an article I wrote earlier titled, "How to Keep the Good Bugs in your Garden".
If your pots become over crowed, just divide the plants and put into other containers. Containers can be anything. Old galvanized buckets with rusted out holes in them, or new ones with some holes drilled in them. These make great hanging containers. Old sap buckets look good also. One time, many years ago, I planted a pair of old work boots with flowers. Old wooden boxes look great also. As a matter of fact, Foxgloves look great in vintage boxes. This year, my favorite wheel barrow "bites" the dust. I moved it to an eye catching location, filled it with potting soil and red, white and blue wave petunias. By Memorial Day it was in its crowning glory.
I use containers of plants and flowers to direct the traffic in my garden, lining the pathway on both sides with flowering containers. I dress up drab, bare spots around the house or on the steps as a warm, welcoming vista for guests and us. On the stairs, choose low, wide pots that won’t get blown over in the wind or get bumped.
In my mind, nothing dresses up a patio or deck like clusters of containers. They provide beauty, conversation, warmth and personality.
Container gardening is perfect for those with small spaces. Window boxes are perfect container gardening apparatus.
Even a few single clay pots filled with Geraniums can brighten up the dullest space.
If you have a blank wall, nothing dresses it up as a row of pots on top, then 2 or 3 tiers of pots in front of that bare, blank wall. I would just set up some cinder or cement block with landscape timbers set into the holes. A great new look, a great conversation piece and everyone thinks you are a master gardener.
As the seasons change, so can your containers. Try tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and grape hyacinths in containers in the early spring. Then bring out the begonias and geraniums, Pots of gladiolus, foxgloves and just about anything else will dress up your "garden of Eden".
You can make this as small a space you want or just go crazy!
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Author Bio Box: Arlene Wright Correll
 Resources: Excerpted from “Arlene’s Garden Series” by Arlene Wright-Correll
For more gardening or cooking information click http://www.learn-america.com/ and click on Arlene’s Books you can download or buy my gardening & cook books. All my royalties from the sale of my books go to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and we thank you for your attention to this site.
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