Plants in containers enjoy new popularity

Among the popular gardening trends of the past few years is a renewed interest in gardening plants in areas besides the garden. Although this may seem like an oxymoron, planting plants in containers is a historic pastime. It is hard to imagine the first container gardens, but certainly the Egyptians, Babylonians and others planted extensive container gardens.

Romans used terra cotta vessels like our present-day clay pots to grow outstanding container displays, and in royal gardens of Europe, elaborate container plantings graced the palace grounds. Today's interest is spurred by many new horticultural developments including the following:

While virtually any container is adaptable to plants, the advent of lightweight, attractive and durable pots makes it easier to grow plants in containers. Any garden center carries myriad styles, sizes and colors of pots. They are usually frost-proof, they are less likely to break while being handled, and, best of all, moving them does not mean several visits to the chiropractor.

The second important improvement for growing plants is artificial soils. These soil-less mixes or peat-based soils are lightweight, and they have excellent water and air drainage. They are also free of harmful pests including insects, diseases and weeds, so they are good growing mediums for producing superb plants.

The final development are the wonderful new plants to add to existing plants to make showy, long-blooming containers for any growing area.

While you might buy a container or two for you own garden, Tony Latimer, a garden manager at Thanksgiving Gardens at Thanksgiving Point, grows several hundred containers to decorate the gardens each season. His greenhouse expertise and his outdoor gardening experience combine to give him the knowledge to create and grow outstanding color displays to decorate pathways and other garden areas.

His first advice is to address the horticultural aspects of growing. He uses a variety of sizes and shapes of pots, but they all have four common characteristics. First, they are lightweight, because he and his crew have to move them to various locations in the gardens. If they have large cast iron or concrete planters, they grow the plants in other containers and then slip them inside the heavy, unwieldy containers.

Second, all of the containers have holes so they drain well. Plant roots need oxygen, and the quickest way to kill container plants is for them to sit in water. Adequate drainage is essential for all container plantings.