Do you like the appearance and aroma of fresh blooming flowers. Do you lack the space for a garden flower bed of your own? Then the solution for you may lie in container gardening. Container gardening can be done virtually anywhere, from the lanai of a high rise apartment to the narrow walkways leading to the front door of a town house. Container gardening is also a visual appealing and entertaining way to add a touch of color to a porch or patio of any home. All that you require is a few containers of your choice, some potting soil or compost, and adequate number of plants to fill those containers with color and fragrances.

Container Choice

One of the fun things about container gardening is that the style of containers that you choose to utilize can be almost anything that will have enough depth and some drainage to house your plants. There will be plenty of styles and designs at your local nursery or garden center. But keep in mind that many of these pots will have advantages and disadvantages. For instance, terracotta pots will dry out very quickly, which means that you will have to water the plants often. Those made of plastic are another popular container, but they do not hold up as well when exposed to the sun's UV rays. Ceramic containers can be beautiful but they require lots of drainage, and wood containers are prone to rot. You can also go with the unusual and unique by using such things as an old wagon or even a rain boot to house your plants and flowers. But ensure that you provide drainage and care for your plants, no matter what type or style of container you decide to use.

Plant Selection for your Container Gardening

Your selection of plants is your next step toward your container flower garden. This should be done by selecting flowers and plants that are known to thrive particularly well in containers. If you are going to have your pots on the ground outside, then select one or two taller plants for the center of your display, spikes and tall flowering varieties are suitable. Fill in around these with some shorter blooming plants, for example, zinnias or marigolds, and then include a some that will trail and cascade down the sides of the pots, like some varieties of petunias, lobilias or ivies. When you are designing your container gardening layout, it is better to select one color scheme, for example, red and yellow flower colors, or pink and purple. Some people will receive pleasure from a red, white a blue theme to exhibit in celebration for the Fourth of July, or perhaps gold and burgundy displays for the fall season.

Container gardening will allow you to demonstrate your creativity and your green thumb in decorating your porch, patio or path with floral displays. Get creative and start planning your own container gardening scheme, and relish the beautiful colors and fragrances that result from your efforts, no matter where about's you reside