Container Gardening Blog
The Container Gardening Blog is my mini-journal or snapshot of new finds I've made in the container gardening world. I'll post things like seasonal ideas, new interviews, and new plants or supplies to try.
Plus, I'll be updating the information on the site periodically. So this blog is my way of giving you a heads-up on things you won't want to miss.
Happy Gardening! Virginia
Carbon Neutral Blogs! A Germany-based Project.
“My blog is carbon neutral” is an initiative, originally started in Germany by the “Make it Green” programme. The goal? To reduce carbon dioxide emissions. They plant a tree for any blog that posts their "carbon neutral" logo. For free!
So every blog gets its own tree (mine is in Northern California)--that's the way they neutralise the blog’s carbon footprint . . for the next 50 years! Everyone can make a small contribution to the environment. Every tree counts! For more info--click the link below. Blooming Friday: Butterfly Gardens
Permalink -- click for full blog post "Blooming Friday: Butterfly Gardens" Full Sun Plants: 15 Container Flowers-- Some Will Surprise You!Think about plants with three different gardening pot growth habits: upright (such as the climbing vines pictured below), mounded (several annual flowers fit this category), and trailing plants (both sun flowers and foliage plants occur here). You can find great examples of these types of flowers growing in full sun. I've suggested some good old standbys via the link below (such as trailing petunias), as well as some sun flowers you might not normally associate with gardening in pots (such as irises and Loosestrife). And here's the great thing about full sun plants. There are so many to chose from! Click the link below for longer discussion of full sun plants. Blooming Friday: Can You Identify this Bonsai?
I love this asymmetrical bonsai. But I don't know what the flowering plant is--do you? It may be a cherry, but I'm not sure. It does appear (in terms of form) to be a"Semi-Cascade" style, where the root emerges from the soil at an angle, and the bonsai falls below the lip of the container pot. For more information and bonsai photos, click below. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Blooming Friday: Can You Identify this Bonsai?" Gardening Is A Theraputic and Healing Art
Meet Stevie, an artistic gardener recovering from illness through her gardening, food and art. She writes a blog called Garden Therapy about her urban potager garden & community veggie plot in Vancouver, BC, Canada. She was kind enough to share her reflections about how gardening has been a healing presence in her life. Here's a sample of our conversation (for more click the link at the bottom): My Question: You've spoken about how gardening has been healing for you. Can you help us understand that a little more? What exactly do you think the act of gardening brings to you--physically, emotionally, "psychically"?
Stevie's Answer:This past weekend it was beautifully warm and sunny just like a spring day even though it’s still mid-January. I popped out of bed and got on my grubby clothes and scrub boots and headed out to clean up the garden a bit. I dug through the brown foliage from last year’s beauties and found new growth peeking out from below all over the garden beds. As I worked, my neighbors waved and teased me for doing a spring clean up in January while people stopped by with their dogs to tell me how they loved to walk past my garden month after month. Not a flower was blooming, and most of what I was working on was mucky and dead, but for me the therapy from gardening is the activity, not the results. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Gardening Is A Theraputic and Healing Art" Shade Plants That Work: Color and Visual Interest Even in the Shadiest Spots
You may have a small garden, but whether it’s all or mostly a filled with shade plants, your can make it glow with color, form, and visual interest.
There are lots of great choices, including those that flower and those that don't. But even foliage plants, like coleus for instance, have lots of color and provide wonderful visual interest for your shade garden. There are also low-growing foliage plants such as spurge that can nearly be a lime-green color. You can add a surprising amount of brightness to low-light gardens.
See how colorful as well as graceful the ferns and caladium pictured here are? You can grow both in containers. For more information about shade plants (and link to a list of great ones for containers), click below. Container Gardening—8 Big Benefits
What’s so great about container gardening anyway? Gardening in containers has big benefits. Maybe that's why it's one of the fastest-growing areas of gardening. Why? Because the benefits of container gardening far outweigh its challenges. Yes, you have to think about weight on a roof or balcony garden. Yes, you need to think about pot drainage on your deck. And yes—let’s be frank—some of you will need to secure that big, expensive urn out in front of your urban brownstone. But these are simple problems to solve—really! Soilless potting mix on the balcony, self-watering containers or catch plates on the deck. And slip a chain through your urn’s drain hole, padlock it to your wrought iron fence, and you’re good to go. (Plus—who can lift a concrete urn anyway?) Want specifics? It's versatile, nearly foolproof, and cost effective. For more about the eight great benefits, click below. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Container Gardening—8 Big Benefits" Patio Gardening, Balconies and Window Boxes: Spruce Up Your Home
On the deck, along garden paths . . . Patio gardening, flowers gracing your balcony. Wherever there’s a need for small garden design, pots add visual value to your home. And that means increased home value for you. For information about * small space gardening in flat spaces * window boxes * hanging planters and flower pouches * plantings along garden paths and in the garden Click below. Blooming Friday! Red and Yellow Day Lilies
Aren't they striking? Bright red with that glowing yellow throat. These would be great as an accent in your summer container garden. And day lilies (among loads of other flowers) are edible. You can stuff and cook them in the same way you use squash blossoms. For more about full sun plants, click below. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Blooming Friday! Red and Yellow Day Lilies" Vegetable Container Gardening: Companion Plants
Vegetable gardening is made so much easier when you plant the right crops together. Sometimes this means in the same garden bed. Sometimes this means in the same pot if you're growing vegetables in containers. Basically, companion planting is an attempt to create a balanced ecosystem, one that promotes the best growing conditions for your tomatoes and vegetables. And just what are the benefits of companion planting? Some plant combinations, when sited together (or even in the same pot) repel garden pests and some plantings attract beneficial insects. For over 90 companion planting ideas, click below. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Vegetable Container Gardening: Companion Plants" Small Space Gardening: Top Ten Steps for Success
Whatever your small space gardening is defined by--whether you’re an urban gardener with a small plot of land, gardening on your patio, balcony, apartment or condo and have only a few square feet of cement, or have window boxes to fill—you'll be really pleased with how much beauty you'll create even in the smallest spaces. You'll see how easy it is to plant lovely, inviting, beautiful small gardens that fit you and your lifestyle. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Small Space Gardening: Top Ten Steps for Success" Tips for Beginner Gardening
We've all got to start somewhere! If you're just beginning to garden, there are some really simple tips that will help you succeed right from the start. For instance, be sure to start your container garden in a season where there are lots of flowers to choose from, and ones that are easy to grow. For most of us, that’s spring and summer annuals (You'll find specific suggestions on the website). And--get the basics. Don’t go hog wild and buy every hand tool you see, just get the ones you need. (Again, the link below will tell you what they are) Start out with commercially made potting soil. Don't get fancy and try to mix your own right away--commercially made planting soil will work just fine until you get the hang of things. For loads more really specific tips, click below. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Tips for Beginner Gardening" Self-Watering Containers: Good and Bad News
Self-watering containers offer those of us who are gardening in pots (and may be confined to small space design) a large range of plant possibilities. Maybe you’re very busy and fear your clay flower pots might dry out due to neglect. Perhaps you’ve been afraid to try growing tomatoes in pots because you know they need a lot of water and you know you just can’t get to it. These garden planters may be your solution. They allow you to grow full sun plants, a lush container herb garden, and bountiful vegetable and tomato crops you’d never be able to water enough. But there is good and bad news to consider. For more info about self-watering pots (and a link to find out how to make your own), click below. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Self-Watering Containers: Good and Bad News" Create Beautiful Pots with Personality
Need some great container gardening ideas? Begin by realizing this fact--gardens have a personality whether we consciously design it or not. Learning even a few easy design principles will help your flower garden convey the look and feel you want, not just the opposite. This is vitally true when you're gardening in small spaces. For great container gardening design tips, click below. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Create Beautiful Pots with Personality" Blooming Friday! Peonies are Lush Perennials Anyone Can Grow.
Who doesn't love peonies? They're my favorite flower, by far. I've grown them in long hedges, as accent plants, and even in pots. Hope you enjoy this sun lover. For more about growing peony plants, click below. Garden Pests? Good and Bad Bugs Plus How to Get Rid of Them.Here's another question I recently fielded. Though you might find the answer helpful: Question: I know there are "beneficial" insects, but what kind don't you want in the garden?
My Answer: Here are some small insects you def. don't want: Aphids The Problem: These are pretty common, but very hard to see. 3 millimeters and green, they love the undersides of leaves where they suck until the leaf becomes rolled and sticky. The Solution: You can spray the plant leaves to knock off the offenders and use a spray of water and soap (best to use insecticidal soap from the nursery). Repeat every few days until they’re gone. Spider Mites The Problem: Too little to see with the human eye, these guys also hang out on the underside of leaves. You’ll know they’re there if your leaves turn yellow and wither. At the worst, there’s a white web on the leaves. The Solution: Rinse the leaves as with aphids and spray. You can also move the plants to a cool spot as you do this. Spider mites like it hot. Whiteflies The Problem: Little white flies. Usually a whole lot of them, and they fly up disgustingly when you touch a leaf (they like the underside) or water. The leaves wither. The Solution: Use an insecticidal soap on them, and they’ll bite the dust pretty quickly. Mealybugs The Problem: 3 millimeter yellow-brown nasties that hold onto the stems and leaves. They leave behind little white fluffs and the leaves get sticky. The Solution: You can squish the bugs between your fingers if you’re not like me and have a bug phobia. Otherwise, clean off the critters with a hose or hard spray with insecticidal soap and treat with horticultural oil you can buy online or at the nursery. Check out the link below for natural pest control information. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Garden Pests? Good and Bad Bugs Plus How to Get Rid of Them." Vertical Gardening: A Great Concept for Small Space Gardening
I know I've made some comment about vertical gardens before--but the other day on the New York Times front page, I noticed a profile on vertical gardening, so I thought this post might be of interest (especially in view of how many new visitors the website has had recently)
If you have a balcony garden, a small patio, deck, or rooftop, think about growing flowers and plants vertically. You can literally grow a lush wall of all types of flowers, vegetables, and foliage plants with a minimal footprint. See lots more about this great gardening solution below (including a very cool video about Patrick Blanc--mega vertical gardener!)
Fences, trellises, and wall plantings have been with us a long time, but you can get much more inventive than that! Starting Seeds? Find out How Here
Container gardening lends itself so well to starting seeds. Whether you’re urban gardening or have established flower beds, when your outdoor planters, clay flower pots, and containers are full of herbs, flowers, or vegetables you propagate yourself, it just makes you feel good. Plus, starting seeds is easy, fun, and best of all—you can experiment.  It's also a wonderful activity to do with kids. Let them pick out their own seeds to start, and enjoy a family activity that rewards you beautifully.
If you take your time, you can really find unusual seeds to start—new colors in some old favorite garden flowers or heirloom seeds with a rich tradition. Every year I find a brand new flower or herb to start from seed.
Don’t like it? Don’t grow it next season.
Plus—starting seeds is perfect for gardening in containers because you don’t need much room—you’ll only germinate a relatively small amount of herb, flower, or vegetable seeds. Find out more below. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Starting Seeds? Find out How Here" Top Five Supplies
Well, ok, you know me. There are more than 5 . . . :) Knowing just the right tools and hand garden supplies makes otherwise difficult tasks simple, pleasant, and helps you get the jobs done in short order.
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