"Planting Guide for Life"
author unknown (to us)

First, plant five rows of peas: Preparedness, Promptness, Perseverance, Politeness and Prayer.

Next, plant three rows of squash: Squash Gossip, Squash Criticism and Squash Indifference.

Then five rows of lettuce: Let Us Be Faithful, Let Us Be Unselfish, Let Us Be Loyal, Let Us Be Truthful, Let Us Love One Another.

Then plant turnips: Turn Up for Church, Turn Up With a Smile, Turn Up With Determination.

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Container Garden of the Month

Celebrate summer by planting a scented container garden. (Of course, you could also plant this in a bigger garden area.) Most herbs are scented so pick herbs for your scented garden that have aromas that you love or want to use in your home or for cooking. I think every scented garden should have pineapple sage, chamomile, thyme, scented geraniums (if you aren't familiar with these, please make their acquaintance - yummy!), rosemary, lavender and bee balm. The list goes on and on but in a container, your space is limited so pick your favorites.

Remember that some of these herbs can be made into tea so this could also be a mini-tea garden. Scented geranium leaves are a wonderful addition to tea, to garnish with, and to dry for sachets or potpourri. If you are making tea with these herbs, many have a strong flavor and aren't good to make tea out of them by themselves. So make a tea blend remembering that many flavors like thyme will overwhelm other flavors so play around a bit and make your own special blend using a little of each herb. Tea herbs can be used dried or fresh. A scented garden even if it's in a container is a place to sit by and just relax and enjoy!

 

Other interesting stuff you might want to take a look at . . .

Herb of the Month >>Go

Home Remedies >>Go

Top 20 Cooking Herbs >>Go

Spiritual Qualities of Herbs >>Go

Aromatherapy & Essential Oils >>Go

Go Garden >>You are Here!

Go Go Green >>Go

Some other recent thoughts  about garden life we just had to write about . . .

Go Garden by Heidi Borchers (posted 1/4/09)

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Other Interesting Reading

• Aha's
• Be Well
• Get Creative
• Herban Living
• Inspired Thoughts
• Whatevers

 

Go Garden - the top 20 Herbs that like to grow in containers . . . herbs fresh from the garden are a must!

Basil	Lemon verbena
Bay Leaf	Mint
Calendula	Nasturtiums
Chives	Oregano
Comfrey	Parsley
Dill	Passion Flower
Jasmine	Rosemary
Lavender	Sage
Lemon balm	Scented geraniums
Lemon grass	Thyme

So you're going to start a container garden? Start by buying some nice sized pots that will hold up to your weather conditions. Remember that terra cotta pots dry out very fast and need to be watered more than plastic or other types of pots. Choose a pot that has good drainage so you can water well and that water does not sit at the bottom and rot the plant’s roots. You need a pot that drains well when it rains or the plants will be too wet and suffer root rot. Use a good quality potting soil (garden soil is too heavy and has too many contaminants and weed seeds). You can add some perlite or vermiculite to potting soil if it doesn’t already have it in the potting soil mixture. You want a light, airy mixture of soil in container gardens.

Remember that some herbs are perennials, some are tender perennials and some are annuals or biennials.  Many of the perennials can survive a cold winter outside in a pot. Tender perennials and annuals will die in the winter cold. Some pots can be brought inside for the winter if you have room for them in a sunny window. Herbs love growing together in pots and can be combined with vegetable plants, such as tomatoes, broccoli, peppers, radishes, beans, and baby carrots. There are dwarf varieties of semi-dwarf varieties that work well in containers.  

Imagine how delicious your home made meals will be when you start harvesting and using your fresh herbs! And, what a relief that you don't need to plant a big garden! Whew!

A fun way to plant container gardens is to have a theme for each container. Here are our top “theme” container garden suggestions.

Salad Garden – what fun to have all the makings for your dinner salad just outside your kitchen door. Plant all kinds of salad greens including mini iceberg lettuce, a tomato plant, some radishes, peppers, cucumbers, chives, arugula, Good King Henry (tastes like spinach), lovage (tastes like celery leaves), and dandelion (we know, we know, you might think this is a weed,  but it’s really good for you and great mixed into salads.) Also remember to plant edible flowers to add to your salads – calendula, borage flowers, and nasturtiums are great additions.

Italian Pizza Garden – how the big and little kids will love this one with all the important makings for pizza growing right outside! Be sure to include basil, oregano, Italian parsley, onions, garlic and peppers (hot or mild). Tuck a tomato plant in this container to round out the pizza theme.

Salsa Garden  – Cha! Cha! Cha! Plant bell peppers, chili peppers, cilantro (a must and try to buy a slow bolt variety as it goes to seed very quickly), a tomato plant and some onions and chives.

Herbal Tea Garden – have the freshest of herbal tea ingredients at hand. A  tiny tea garden growing on your patio is a must! Plant lemon balm, chamomile, lavender, peppermint, spearmint, chocolate mint,  lemon verbena, lemon grass,  passion flowers, jasmine, scented geraniums, bee balm, sage, rosemary and don’t forget thyme. You will be amazed how wonderful tea is that is made from fresh herbs. Just say no to dried herbs!

Spice Garden – most spices come from faraway lands (no we're not talking about the grocery store) but you can grow some of your own spices at home. Plant anise, fennel, caraway seeds, dill seeds, coriander seed, bay leaves and many more.

Butterfly Garden - Invite butterflies into your garden by planting plants that attract them. You can add wonderful plants in a large container on your deck or patio that entices the butterflies to your yard. Butterflies love curly leaf parsley, catmint, Echinacea, butterfly bush, bronze fennel, cosmos, asters, bee balm, black eyed susan, butterfly weed, joe pye weed, marigolds, lantana, zinnias, lilacs, willow, aspen trees and many more. Read more about your butterfly container garden here!

Bulb Container Garden - Bulbs do well in pots by themselves and as accents in a container garden. Bulbs like sandy, humus rich soil (1/3 peat moss, 1/3 loam and 1/3 sand). There are fertilizers made just for bulbs if you feel a need to fertilize. Most bulbs must be planted in the fall to come up in your container in the spring but you can plant already-growing bulbs (like those given as gifts at Easter, etc.) in your container garden. Bulbs look great as accents in containers with other flowers as they have a short blooming period and can anchor a container until the other plants in the container are ready to bloom. So don't count out bulbs just because you forgot to plant them last fall. Nothing is as wonderful as bulbs for color and some for scent in an early spring container garden.