Container Gardening

Container gardening can be useful if you're looking for something to brighten a dark spot in your garden or if you live in an apartment. Just follow some easy instructions and put your imagination to work.

The first step is to find a pot whether it be a hanging basket, a ceramic pot or an old pair of rubber boots that you just haven't gotten around to throwing out. The most important thing to remember is good drainage. Poking holes in the bottom of your pot or filling the bottom with gravel, pistachio shells, pebbles or an old cracked ceramic pot broken into pieces should do the trick.

The next step is to fill it with dirt. Your best bet is an all purpose compost mixed with a slow release fertilizer.

Here comes the fun part. Choosing your plants. You can come up with your own design or go to your local nursery and ask for some help on choosing plants that grow well in containers and which ones grow well together. You can even grow vegetables!

Just a couple more things.

Remember to keep your plants watered. Plants grown in containers are more open to wind and sun and tend to dry out a lot faster than plants grown in the ground.

Don't forget to dead - head your flowers. This promotes growth and a larger abundance of flowers on your plants.

Happy Planting!

Must Try Recipe

Pasta Primavera

Serves 4

1/2 cup carrots sliced in medallions

1/2 cup onion sliced into rings

1/2 cup broccoli cut into bite size pieces

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup sweet peppers, julienned

1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced

1 large tomato, diced

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 Tablespoons butter

8 oz dry pasta

1/2 cup grated parmesan

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Melt butter and olive oil on medium-high heat. Add vegetables and stir fry until

tender crisp. Remove from heat and add pasta and parmesan.

Serve and enjoy.

*Frozen vegetable mixes can be used in place of fresh vegetables.*

Plant Profile

Lobelia - Annual Flower

A wonderful addition to container gardening. Small compact flowers sit on top of mounds of green and bronzed foliage. Available in dark blue, light blue or white. Perfect for a splash of colour in a shady corner.

h. 4", w. 4" - 6" Prefers shade to part shade.

Official Start of Outstanding in My Garden

Plant Profile

Snowdrop (Galanthus ElwesII)

A bulbous perennial that produces pure white, lightly scented flowers above dark

green leaves (Mine are a little yellow because they got nipped with frost)

Great for garden borders, naturalizing or rock gardens. Likes moist, well drained soil

partial shade. h. 4" - 6" (10cm - 15cm), w. 3" (8cm) Hardy to zone 4

Gardening Tips

I find gardening tips in the strangest places. I was watching a cooking show and it had a little blurb about pistachio nuts. At the end of the blurb they had the neatest idea of what to do with the empty shells. Simply rinse your shells to get rid of the salt and throw them in the bottom of a planter to work as drainage! Who would've thought? What a great idea and it's one less thing to throw in the landfill.

Must Try Recipes

Super Easy Fruit Salad

A simple, light and tasty treat

19oz can of unsweetened pineapple, drained (feel free to use fresh pineapple)

2 - 10oz cans mandarin slices, undrained

2 pears peeled and diced

2 kiwis, peeled and diced

The above ingredients are the base for the fruit salad. Here's where you can get

creative and try different fruits. Mix the base ingredients together and add fruits

like blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, grapes, exotic fruits etc. Go wild!

On a final note, I have just moved into a new house with established perennial

gardens. I'm very excited to see what kinds of plants will come up and also to

make some additions of my own. Below is a picture of a tulip coming up. I

wonder what colour it will be?

Enjoy your day and make the most of it!