Plus 3 Container No-nos
Container gardens are all the rage right now, according to
popular garden periodicals from budget-conscious Better Homes and Gardens to
spare-no-expense Sunset Magazine. Containers come in all shapes and sizes, and
more container-friendly plants are hybridized every year. Containers can
provide inexpensive patio décor, and can be moved around during the growing
season as temperature and light exposure changes. Container gardens require
less soil and less manual labor to get started than larger beds, but they also
require more frequent watering and fertilizing during the growing season. Be
prepared to check the soil moisture and plant wiltiness every day when it’s hot
out. Some plants will need daily watering when the weather is especially
toasty.
Here are a few easy-to-grow plants that adapt well to
containers, plus a few that I wouldn’t recommend under most circumstances. For
other ideas, check your local garden store for new container-friendly varieties.
Try chatting up workers and shoppers, if the opportunity presents itself.
Top 7 Container Garden Plants
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| Fave Four Perennial Container Herbs |
Herbs:
Marjoram, winter savory, and several varieties of oregano and thyme are container-friendly. In
mild Bay Area climates they’ll even overwinter, if protected on the coldest
nights with shade cloth. It’s possible to raise these from seeds, but faster
and more reliable to start with small plants and pot them into 10-inch diameter
pots. If plants are small, protect them from marauding squirrels with strawberry baskets or inverted gopher baskets.
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| 2013's Basil So Far: Thai and Lime |
Basil: I know,
technically this is an herb, but I separated it because basil is a
tender annual that requires special handling. All varieties including Thai
basil can be grown in containers. A favorite of slugs and snails,
container-grown basil is easier to protect than garden-grown. Simply wrap the
containers with self-stick
copper foil tape near the top. Be sure that no other plants can contact the
container above the foil if a snail-size weight is attached to them. This
includes branches from above, adjacent plants, and weeds that are taller than
the container. Snails are surprisingly resourceful. I prefer seedlings to
seeds, because they produce more basil quicker. Trim off flower spikes as they
appear to produce larger and more numerous leaves.
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| Beefsteak (left) & Super Bush |
Tomatoes: There are
plenty of tomatoes designed for containers these days, but according to the UCSC Farm (as well as my own experience), any
variety including heirloom slicers can be grown in containers, provided that
you do three things: use a big enough container, water frequently, and
fertilize at least once every six weeks. Fertilizer in particular will affect
the size of your yield. For the heirloom slicers, use a pot that’s about 16
inches in diameter. Container-friendly varieties like Super bush and prolific
cherry tomatoes such as Sungold and Isis Candy (both recommended) can take
smaller containers, about 12 inches. Most tomatoes need plenty of sun and
warmth to produce. If these are in short supply where you live, try the classic
Early Girl (requires fewer sunny days), or ask at your garden store about
fog-friendly varieties.
Sweet peppers: OK, I
have never tried these, until this week. The same farmer at the UCSC Farm who recommended planting tomatoes
in containers says that peppers do well if given plenty of water and fertilized
frequently. Like tomatoes, peppers prefer a sunny, warm climate. Look for
fog-friendly varieties if you’re on the coast, and/or place them in the
hottest, sunniest spot in the yard. I don’t recommend growing either peppers or
tomatoes from seed, especially in cooler climates. To make the most of the
growing season, start with already-established plants.
Mint: Decorative as
well as culinary, mints grow equally well in containers and the ground. Be sure
to place them in a mostly-shady area. I’ve grown spearmint, Persian mint,
peppermint, lemon mint, orange mint, chocolate mint, and Himalayan mint in
containers (the latter is fuzzy and decidedly not culinary). Lemon verbena,
also a mint, botanically speaking, also grows well in containers. During winter
mint dies back, but typically re-emerges early in spring, especially if
protected under shrubbery or near the house covered with shade cloth.
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| Poppies Also Attract Bees to the Garden |
Poppies: Both
culinary poppies and wild poppies (California poppy cultivars) sprout readily
from seed and look beautiful in containers. These are best started in cool
weather. Stick to seeds rather than plants, poppies don’t transplant well. I
like using large containers, like oak half-barrels, so that poppies can reseed
and come up again every spring. You could plant mid-to-late summer bulbs like
dahlias in the same container to fill in the season with color after the
poppies have bloomed.
Fuchsia: This is a
classic container plant, often seen in hanging baskets. Many shades and
combinations of pink, purple, red, and white are available, with single and
double blooms of all sizes. Fuchsias require shade. They bloom throughout
summer into fall. Fertilizing makes blooms even more prolific, as does pinching
off the old, spent blossoms. Water when soil starts to feel dry. Most winters
they will die back, and if left semi-protected under shrubbery or shade cloth
will come back the following spring. Fuchsias are named after Leonhard Fuchs,
a 16th century German botanist. Remember this and you’ll not contribute to
the epidemic
of misspelling of this flower name.
3 (Mostly) Not Container-Friendly Plants
Parsley: Yes, it
seems like it would take to pots like most other herbs, but this has not been
true in my experience. Grown in a bed, however, it tends to reseed easily and
come up the following years in rather inconvenient semi-shady spots, such as
the cracks in the patio below the picnic table.
Most Squash: Typically
squash likes to be planted on top of a mound and trail down on the soil.
Usually two plants (or 3 seeds) are planted and trailed down opposite sides of
the mound. I’ve not been successful at fooling squash into thinking that it
will “trail down” from a pot. So I’m planting my butternut on a classic squash
mound. Renee Shepherd introduced a
container-friendly bush-like
zucchini plant that I’m planting in a pot this year, though. Given the
success of Renee’s Super-bush tomatoes in small containers last year, I’m
optimistic.
Artichoke: In the
Bay Area, artichokes are extremely happy in the garden and will overwinter and
produce throughout the years. They need more space than a container provides,
and will spread out to 4-5 feet in diameter. Where winters are mild they
essentially produce forever, so it’s best to locate your artichokes in a spot
where you’ll enjoy seeing them for many years.
Do you have other favorite container garden
plants? If so, please share in a comment!
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