About.com Container Gardening

Great Container Garden Plant - Flowering Kale

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 06:30:51 +0000

Flowering Kale
Photo � Kerry Michaels

I'm crazy about decorative kale. I love the colors and the wild, spiky leaves. I also love that the colors intensify as it gets colder, particularly after a few frosts.

Flowering kale is not a timid plant. It has radical textures and can look great alone or with other more sedate looking plants.

One of the keys to making a successful container garden with flowering kale is to not be afraid of being bold. Try putting them in unconventional containers. I have put them in funky shallow baskets as well as a modern, brushed aluminum window boxes and both looked great.

These are really wacky plants so my advice is to have fun with them.

Great Container Garden Plant - Flowering Kale originally appeared on About.com Container Gardening on Friday, November 27th, 2009 at 06:30:51.

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Container Gardening Thankfulness

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 06:30:07 +0000

It's hard not to sound cliched when being thankful. I have to say though that I am incredibly grateful for many things - home, family, and friends - virtual and real. I also feel ridiculously lucky and thankful to have this opportunity to write about something I love and that stretches me creatively.

I am also thankful to everyone who reads, comments, encourages, or corrects (or all of the above) the writings on this website.

I wish you all the happiest of Thanksgivings and wish you great health, happiness and thriving container gardens.

Container Gardening Thankfulness originally appeared on About.com Container Gardening on Thursday, November 26th, 2009 at 06:30:07.

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Container Garden Idea - Holiday Decoration

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:30:59 +0000

Wordless Wednesday Container Garden Pictures

Peperomia clusiifolia 'Rainbow' in Cookie Tin
Photo � Kerry Michaels

Container Garden Idea - Holiday Decoration originally appeared on About.com Container Gardening on Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 at 06:30:59.

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Tillandsia Terrarium

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:30:01 +0000

Tipsy Tillandsia
Photo � Kerry Michaels

I had such a great time this weekend fooling around with these tillandsias also known as air plants. You have got to love a plant who lives on air and water. I sometimes hang them in my shower or put them in glass jars (though they really prefer to have air circulating around them). I usually give them a soaking every couple of days.

Check out my gallery of terrarium pictures, including this one.

Tillandsia Terrarium originally appeared on About.com Container Gardening on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 06:30:01.

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Drying Container Gardening Bounty

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:47:46 +0000

Dried Orages
Photo � Kerry Michaels

This summer I got a food dehydrator to preserve some of my anticipated container garden bounty. I was particularly looking forward to dried tomatoes, which I love. Well, as many of us experienced - this year's tomato crop was totally pathetic. None of the tomatoes even made it into the dehydrator. The few tomatoes we got, we ate right off the vine.

On the bright side, my herb container gardens went berserk this summer, so I there were plenty of herbs to dry and I found that the dehydrator rocks for that. However, the thing that has made my entire family into drying fanatics, is dried oranges. They are incredible. We are eating them as fast as we can dry them.

We've also dried apples and pears, picked right from our own trees, which is nothing to sneeze at, but I'm telling you, dried oranges are the bomb! They are incredibly tasty and also beautiful. I'm planning to fill up mason jars with them and give them as gifts for the holidays.

If you're in the market for a food dehydrator, check out the
Excalibur Dehydrator. Mine has been running almost continuously since I got it.

Drying Container Gardening Bounty originally appeared on About.com Container Gardening on Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 06:47:46.

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Smitten with Window Boxes

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:30:17 +0000

Wordless Wednesday Container Garden Pictures

Window Box by Smitten, Wiscasset, Maine
Photo � Kerry Michaels

Smitten with Window Boxes originally appeared on About.com Container Gardening on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 at 06:30:17.

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Planting Bulbs in Container Gardens

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:18:54 +0000

Planting Bulbs
Photo � Kerry Michaels

First of all, I want to give a big shout out to Doug Green. He's incredibly knowledgeable and generous with that knowledge and he's also a great writer. His book, Guide to Canadian Vegetable Gardening (which, honestly is not just for Canadians) totally rocks. It's written with style and humor and packs in a huge amount of information, which is entertainingly presented.

But back to bulbs. I entered a photo contest on Doug's website simplegiftsfarm.com and my image "Dahlia Bride," was one of the winners. The prize? A huge box of beautiful bulbs.

There were tulips, hyacinths, grape hyacinths, daffodils and alliums. This past weekend I planted all of the bulbs in various planters. I then placed the planters in a protected area and covered and surrounded them with leaves to provide enough insulation so the bulbs won't get too cold. I'm hoping they'll make it through the winter and that come spring (which right now seems very far away), I'll be rewarded with lots of luscious container gardens filled with gorgeous and fragrant blooms. I'll let you know how it goes.

Planting Bulbs in Container Gardens originally appeared on About.com Container Gardening on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 10:18:54.

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Container Garden Plants into Winter

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:47:10 +0000

Japanese Forest Grass
Photo � Kerry Michaels

My friend Teresa O'Connor has a wonderful website called Seasonal Wisdom. She is doing a blog series where she asks gardeners to name their favorite plants for winter. Here's my answer.

Container Garden Plants into Winter originally appeared on About.com Container Gardening on Friday, November 13th, 2009 at 19:47:10.

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Proven Winners - Great Website for Container Garden Info

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:00:56 +0000

Wishbone Flower or Torrenia
Photo � Kerry Michaels

I'm a huge fan of Proven Winners plants and I'm also a huge fan of their website. It is a terrific resource for plant information and it's extremely well organized. I often lose my plant tags, no matter how hard I try to keep them organized, and find that the Proven Winners website is one of the easiest places to go for plant identification. Also, with those lost tags, goes plant care info too, so I'll often go to the Proven Winners site to remind myself if a plant is a sun lover or is a big drinker.

There are even some recipes for container garden plant combinations.

Proven Winners - Great Website for Container Garden Info originally appeared on About.com Container Gardening on Thursday, November 12th, 2009 at 06:00:56.

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Million Bells - Great Plant for, Ummm...Fall

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:25:33 +0000

Wordless Wednesday Container Garden Pictures

Superbells, 'Dreamsicle' Taken on November 5th
Photo � Kerry Michaels

Million Bells - Great Plant for, Ummm...Fall originally appeared on About.com Container Gardening on Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 at 06:25:33.

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