Container Gardening Contest

ENTER TO WIN THESE FABULOUS PRIZES:

• Cobra Head® Tool
• 1-year subscription to Horticulture Magazine
• Signed book from Fern Richardson
• Sun Grip gardening gloves
• Paper Potmaker®
• Botanical Interests seeds
• and MORE!

HOW TO ENTER:

Create a unique, whimsical and/or breathtaking garden in a container. Take photos at your creation’s pinnacle of beauty and email them to us. Send us your digital photos, each no larger than 5 mb in .gif, .jpg or .png format. Be sure to put “CONTAINER CONTEST” in the subject line. Include your name, address and phone number in the body of the email and list all the varieties used in each container, as well as any additional information you think will help tell your gardening story. Click here to email. Limit three (3) photo entries per person. Photo must be received by October 31, 2012. Winners will be announced November 30, 2012. The grand prize winning container and instructions will be featured in next year’s catalog.

No purchase necessary to participate in this contest.

Must be 18 years or older to enter. Void where prohibited by law. Click here for complete Official Rules.

Think "Outside the Container"

Everything from a small, portable BBQ to an ice skate can be used to hold the soil your plants need. If you’re tight on space, why not transform a wooden shipping pallet into a vertical planter? Fern and Botanical Interests have collaborated on a special collection, Perfect Pallet Garden to get you started. Visit Fern’s blog at lifeonthebalcony.com to learn how to create your own pallet garden. Early 2012, her new book will be available on our website here.

Tips for Creating Gorgeous Container Gardens

by Fern Richardson blogger and author Life on the Balcony www.lifeonthebalcony.com

1) An easy way to make sure your container composition looks balanced and pleasing to the eye is to include three different types of plants: spillers, fillers, and thrillers. Spillers are plants that soften the edge of the pot, like trailing nasturtiums. Fillers are plants that make a pot feel lush and well-rounded. And every pot needs a few eye-catching thrillers, such as deep purple ornamental peppers.

2) Combine edible and purely ornamental plants for a whimsical yet useful potted display. Herbs are especially good for these sorts of containers. Keep an eye out for the flashier varieties, such as Purple Petra basil or Zeolights calendula. Lettuces and leafy greens can also be showy.

3) Strawberry pots can be used for more than just strawberries! Many trailing herbs and typical rock-garden plants such as portulaca and sweet alyssum work really well in the pockets of a strawberry pot. To transplant your seedlings from their starter pot to the strawberry pot, feed the leafy end through the openings from the inside of the pot, as opposed to backing the root ball in to the opening from the outside.

More tips…

Click here for additional gardening tips on our "In the Garden" blog from your personal garden coaches – Judy Seaborn, owner and Ryan Schmitt, horticulturist.