Add color to your garden long before it is time to plant regular spring annuals. Make sure your container is hardened off before you place it outside and it will provide weeks of color when temperatures are still cool. Place it in a location where you will see it often, it's the perfect cure for spring fever.
Now is the time to get your Amaryllis started again for the season. Make sure that you leave about one third of the bulb above the surface of the soil and at least an inch on the sides of the container when planting. Water in well, and then keep soil on the drier side until you see the stalk emerging. Now you can water more regularly & keep in a warm, sunny location until the buds begin to open. Enjoy this beautiful plant.
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Now is the time to pot up some spring flowering bulbs in your planters for indoor color during the Winter season. Place the containers in a cool, dark place, until you can see new growth emerging from the soil, and then move them to a bright window to enjoy.
Yes, we are now talking about over wintering – time to think about getting the containers and planters ready for a cooler (cold) season. For the Mandevilla, just cut off the vines to a manageable length. Keep the plant in its pot and water sparingly for the winter, don’t fertilize until ready to place outdoors in the Spring again.
Soil is the key to successful gardening in containers. The plants are at the mercy of what you put in the flower pots, they are isolated and cannot get nourishment from the soil around them if needed. The roots penetrate deep so make sure that you have a nice large planter to allow your plants to grow healthy and strong.
Now that summer is fading, the Gaura in our garden planters is going strong. The slender stems float over the garden container and extend out like wands in the breeze. It thrives in full sun and adds movement and grace to those garden pots, urns and window boxes.
To keep garden planters and containers fresh looking into the Fall season, just add a branch of bittersweet to the pot, or perhaps a cluster of red maple leaves or even a tall corn stock . You are now up to date and in keeping with the changing seasons.
For the greatest amount of enjoyment from a container garden, harvest the vegetables at their peak of maturity when a vegetable’s full flavor has developed. This will yield the most pleasure for all that hard work – excellent taste of vine-ripened tomatoes, tender green beans and of course wonderful zucchini.
Peas are a great crop to grow in containers but not usually recommended because of the amount of space they take up. Now anyone can grow a delectable crop of garden peas, no matter where you live or how much space you have. Burpee’s Petite Pea plants are only 10"" tall, produce as many full-sized 3"" pods as a larger plant and can be grown in a space as small as an 8"" diameter pot with no support. Here is a great idea for next year’s vegetable garden.
By this time of the year the garden pots and planters start to look at little bedraggled – all they really need is a shot of water soluble fertilizer the next time you water. Be sure to clip off or dead head any finished blooms and your containers will look good well into the Fall.
Every region has its specific challenges in gardening. Where it gets very very hot in the summer, choose plants that can tolerate dry soil, don’t need deadheading and are heat tolerant. There are lots of succulents that look terrific in your garden planters.
Bulbs are such fun, they are always a surprise when they come up – you plant them so far in advance that we forget what to expect. Plant your bulbs in garden planters and containers in the Fall for Spring and of course in the Spring for Fall viewing.
Garden plant containers and pots showcase plants and do enhance an area’s aesthetic appearance. A beautiful hedge can be created which includes many planters suitably spaced containing boxwood topiaries. They look wonderful along a driveway or against a privacy fence.
Yes, they do go together. Collect rainwater to give a drink to those plant pots and containers during summer dry spells. The water is pure and you are doing a great service to the environment as well. Many municipalities have rain barrels to sell at a good price – reduces the amount of water they have to process in the treatment plant.
If you are limited on time and of course space, container gardening may be the way for you to go. We need to take advantage of all the great plants that we can grow in garden planters and containers. Garden Centers now have large plants ready for your pots and arrangements that you can repot into your lovely garden containers for your own unique look.
This one looks spectacular and is easy to create. Start with your Purple Grass or Sedge in the middle and place a red Verbena on either side. Then alternate with (2)Yellow and (2) Purple Calibrachoa, ending with one Sweet Potato Vine. Make sure to have a large pot or container, they will grow!
Think about container gardening if you are running out of space in your small garden – start filling up your garden planters and pots with shade plants which can be dramatic and exciting. Think about texture, variety and color repetition with your new shade garden containers.
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