The Best Plants For A Container Garden

If you ever wanted to eat organic foods, but you thought it too expensive, try growing it yourself, with a container garden. Even if you live in a townhouse, condominium or apartment you can still have a healthful garden. Container gardens make gardening accessible to almost everyone. Even children and the elderly can delight in growing their own fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs without all the laborious efforts that go into a traditional garden.
Most vegetables that can be grown outdoors will also do well with container gardening. You will however, need to consider the amount of space a plant need at maturity and choose containers large enough to accommodate them. Other considerations are, the amount of sunlight and the actual space that is available. If there is not a lot of space on you patio or balcony, choose plants that grow up rather out; like tomatoes or beans.

Theme container gardens are all the rage, but what you put into your container garden should be a personal thing. If you love South of the Boarder foods, plant, cilantro, garlic, tomato, bell peppers, onions and jalapeno peppers.
If you like to cook Mediterranean foods try planting a tomato plant in the middle of the container with some oregano, parsley, rosemary around its edges. You could start another container with pole beans, garlic and zucchini squash.
If you love fresh salads, grow lettuce, spinach, parsley, dill, radishes, carrots, arugula, chives, and beets. Or you can grow edible flowers. Nasturtium, pansies and marigolds may look like a flower garden by day, and decorate your meals by night.
Some fruits also thrive in containers. Strawberries are hardy plants that can even grow well in specialized bags, hanging on the wall. Some dwarf fruit trees can adapt quite nicely to container gardening. Citrus dwarfs and dwarf berry bushes can be successfully grown in containers. Of course you will need a large container and you might want to move it much, but you could even have fresh citrus growing in your sunroom.


Another best theme for container gardens is the medicinal theme. Here you can have ingredients for teas, balms and tonics. Echinacea, peppermint, calendula, feverfew and St Johns wart, are some popular plant choices. Dandelion and chamomile are good for tea. You can also use dandelion leaves in fresh salads, as it’s wonderful for the health of your liver.
Aloe Vera leaves provide great relief for burns and cuts. The gel inside that leaf of this miraculous plant heals many skin ills. Just by cutting off its leaf and applying the gel, you can cool your sunburn or kill bacteria in a natural way.


As we approach the holiday season, you might think about giving container gardens as gifts. A container garden would make a lovely housewarming gift or education endeavor for young children. Whatever you plan to do with your container garden, almost any plant choice is the right choice, just because you want to include it. Choose the plants you love. It’s your garden, so you’re the boss.


By  Renee Rotto