I love container gardening! We can all have the decorative, convenient and delicious gardens of our dreams with container gardening. They are versatile easy to fit in any space and decorative adding a beautiful look to any space either on a patio deck or in a garden.
My favorite types of container gardening are:
1. Colorful Flowers: with so many varieties of plants and flowers you can’t go wrong! Have fun with mixing and the great thing is that containers can add color anywhere – front porch, patio, in our gardens, borders of our yards, windows, rooftops…
2. Edible plants: An edible container I make every year is what I call the “grill guy” for my husband Joe. I fill a large terracotta pot with Rosemary, Basil, Chives that all complement anything we grill – steak, chicken, and fish. And an added plus is that each of these herbs is natural mosquito repellents. No pesky flies bothering us while we grill or eat! Contained fruit trees are one of the most decadent pleasures on my patio and one that everyone should treat themselves to! Ok, so I show-off a bit when entertaining friends by pulling a fig or two off my tree to compliment my cheese tray.
3. Succulent containers are so easy and full of texture and castes of blues, greens and pinks. I like the look of succulents because tghey are so understated and have a lot of style. And when I might not get to watering as often as I should, succulents thrive with limited watering.
The types of containers I like to use include:
1. A collection of pots that have the same theme but different shapes such as terracotta. Terracotta containers come in countless designs, prices, and shapes. Another container I love is anything cobalt blue and again it’s fun to match the pieces as a collection, not as perfect pairings. With any collection, whether 5 pieces or 50, you can mix and match, make a statement with many or subtle designs with a few. Whatever your style and personality is, it will surely show with your container collection!
2. Window Boxes – Who says a window box has to be flowers? I sure don’t! I love my window boxes full of fragrant herbs such as Lemon Balm (I cut into slivers and add to ice water and also add into ice cube trays to use in cocktails) Mint (the clean fragrance alone is fabulous and I also like to place sprigs into my flower arrangements and into watermelon salad) Rosemary (ideal for anything I roast, like chicken and vegetables and I also add into olive oil to use on my salads) Basil (I like Lime and Sweet Thai Basil both are very aromatic and great in cooking with distinctive flavors) And the aroma of these herbs coming through my windows is delightful.
3.Hanging Baskets again, wonderful with colorful flowers but also as decorative with strawberry plants, ferns, ivy or pennywort.
Container gardening is really satisfying and if you haven’t given it a try – do! And let me know your results!
Check out the Gardening Guide for more helpful gardening tips!
- Barbara