I love growing in containers. I grow everything from tomatoes and herbs to exotic flowers and shrubs. Each year it is fun to decide what containers to use and what plants to try.
Through the years I have turned just about everything into a container for plants. Sometimes I find something unusual and the container is more important than the plant. But, most of the time my containers are ordinary and it’s the plants that make them special.
However, there is one container that I use every year that is very special to me, this little metal water pitcher that is filled with lemon mint…
This pitcher belonged to my grandmother … the same grandmother who went to see her doctor when she was in her 80s and asked the doctor to give her a pill that would make her feel strong enough to hoe in the garden. This little pitcher was a part of her everyday, ordinary life. To me it is completely extraordinary in the memories that it holds!
I am told she had the greenest of thumbs and could grow anything. And, you can be sure that I love it when other family members say, “You remind me of your grandmother, Mammy!”
Here are some containers in my garden and even a picture of me taken a few years ago dressed in one of Mammy’s dresses, holding her water pitcher…
My favorite plants to use in containers…
- Tomatoes (Because I am obsessed)
- Chile Peppers
- Roses
- Mint (…Because I love it and use a lot of it BUT it will take over if you plant in ground!)
- Most used cooking herbs
- Nasturtiums (Planted around my tomatoes)
- Dorotheanthus Mezoo (Big name but excellent trailing plant)
- Lantana (Hummingbirds & butterflies love)
- Wave Petunias (’cause they can take the heat)
- Geraniums
- Coleus
- Ferns
- Gardenias
- Succulents
For more on container gardening, click here.
What do you grow in containers?
You might also enjoy these family stories…
I love every single one of these photos and all of the different containers you’ve filled with beautiful growing things. And your Mammy’s metal water pitcher… what a wonderful use of a precious keepsake. ♥ That is an awesome old photo of you in the garden with it! Have I told you lately how envious I am of your gardens? Very… 🙂
I do love to grow in containers. Gives you the chance to be more up close and personal with the plants!
Her dress, my apron. I LOVE aprons, don’t you? And, the pitcher is definitely a prized possession!
Lovely photos! My grandmother was a gardener too. I take after her, no one else in the family gardens. In pots right now:geraniums,lily of the valley, coleus, carrots and lavender.
Good Morning Susan. We pick up so much from the generations before us. Makes me want to be more intentional about what we pass on to those around us! How is your garden doing this year? We are critically low on water. Not much more than a drop in 6 weeks. Farmers are in crisis mode. Sad! Nice to hear from you.
I love container gardening too. I also love clay pots. I have a patio surrounded by herbs and two raised garden beds of veggies behind my garage. Nothing too big because I’m confined by my small yard. Your photos are lovely and inspiring. I just may add some different pots for some variety because of your pics.
I LOVE clay pots too, but we have had such hot dry summers that I moved to using them less because they dry out so fast. 🙁 Would love to see pictures of your garden.
Gardening is actually my own passion since it seriously assists myself to enjoy and relax. I like to grow plants both indoors as well as outside the house. My personal favorite plants are tropical ornamental plants as well as fruit bearing plants.
Love the pictures. I have a question 🙂
How did you get the lantana to grow so compact? No matter where I put mine they tend to become spindly.
I cut the lantana back early in the summer… A lot!
I do too – almost to the ground. Maybe I cut them back too far.