Photos by Quincy Benton
Containers have cachet. Gardening in pots has grown more popular with each passing year, and for good reasons:
• Containers are portable. You can move them from sun to shade. Use containers to add interest to dukk spots in the garden that need a blast of color or texture.
• Containers can come inside for the winter. A number of plants normally treated as annuals--including succulents, zonal geraniums, herbs, hibiscus, New Guinea impatiens and others—are happy to spend the winter inside if you have some sunny windows.
• Containers pose fewer problems when it comes to weeding.
• Containers offer almost endless decorative opportunities. Opt for traditional terra cotta, or go for glazed ceramic, stone, wood, even zinc. Mix and match colors and textures. If your budget allows, steer clear of plastics, although the market now has some attractive faux stone pots made of fiberglass.
• Containers allow the showcasing of a plant. If, for example, you have a beautiful pot of pansies in the spring, you can use it as a centerpiece for your outdoor table. If your hibiscus is blooming gloriously, you can place it by your front door to show it off.
Even if you’re a greenhorn green-thumb, containers are easy. In fact, in many cases, growing in containers is easier than growing in the earth. Just make sure you have a good growing medium and feed organically during the season with fish emulsion or a topdressing of compost. Keep an eye on the soil’s moisture, mindful that containers dry out much quicker than the ground.
• Containers can go vertical if you add a trellis to a pot, whether large or small. Allow a vine to wend its way up a spiral rod or use a branch--cherry look especially nice--as a natural trellis to prop up trailing plants.
Some of the nicest containers feature attached saucers for drainage, but if you have a pot without a saucer, you can always add one if needed. If your container will sit directly on the ground, perhaps you prefer to allow the excess water to drain into the ground.
If you’re not bringing your containers inside, it’s a good idea to empty the soil so your pots won’t pop during the winter’s freeze/thaw cycle.
If you are bringing your containers inside, make sure you're not inviting in any pests. Check foliage, soil, and undersides of pots for bugs, slugs, spiders and other unwanted guests. Many container plants benefit from pruning before coming indoors. Prepare yourself to weather witnessing some symptoms of plant trauma when you bring your containers indoors before frost. Plants might drop leaves and show other signs of shock, but you'll soon come to know which plants will adjust to winter indoors. If your container plants don't make it, at least you gave them a shot. Just remember that the plants would not have survived Jack Frost, either.
For more info: Here’s a link to my story on topdressing containers, published this season in The Denver Post
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