I grow my entire garden in large containers. Last summer, I only had five tomato plants and they fed me, my neighbors, dog training students and faculty all summer. I live in the middle of the city, but I have almost an acre of land. We are overrun by Eastern Cottontails here, and everything I planted on the ground inevitably got eaten, pooped on or abused by the bunnies.
So I put everything above ground in containers, and the bunnies couldn’t reach into them; finally my garden was safe. Wish I had a way to attach a photo, because it’s pretty amazing what you can grow in 13 containers. I grew the aforementioned tomato plants (three varieties, five plants total), cucumbers, 19 different types of herbs (I’m a crazy good cook), brussels sprouts, squash, peppers (both hot, and sweet), onions and carrots, as well as annual and perennial flowers in each pot. I did it all by companion planting, plus I used a HECK of a lot less water this way as well last year.
One of the best parts of growing my garden in containers is I could place them wherever I wanted, and still have lawn, flower beds, etc. I placed four of the containers along my street front and put a note on each of my neighbors’ doors. It said, “I am gardening in pots this year, and I placed four of them in front of my home on the street. Please help yourself and family to as many veggies and flowers as you like!” It was like a block party every day. People walking by carried bags in their back pockets (I swear it looked like dog poop bags, I giggled myself silly!) stopped and picked what they wished. Another neighbor would drive by and stop, hop out, strike up a conversation, and relax. It did my heart good and my neighbors became better friends with me and each other. It’s just marvelous!
My favorite flowers are lilacs, roses ~ sweet & spicy perfumed varieties, not the heavy old-fashioned floral scents, daffodils, and petunias for their variety of colors… After living in Florida as a transplant for just seven years, I was glad to return to NH, but I missed some of the flowers that grow as perennials there, and can barely make it thru a summer here.
I miss bottle brush, magnolias, & Canna (which I HAVE found a way to grow every year, by digging up the corms and storing them in my cellar all winter). I love hibiscus, I even grafted different colors onto each bush so I had multi colors of blooms on every plant. It was a firework of a plant, a riot of color I was so happy!
I raise Monarch butterflies from egg through release all summer, so my garden is full of pollinator flowers and bushes, and I raise my own milkweed (three varieties) to support them and their migrating wild relatives.
I could keep going, I tend to wax eloquent when it comes to gardening and wildlife, I love them! I cannot WAIT for spring to start! I hope you have a wonderful one!