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Here's my collection of garden catalogs that I've been poring over the past several weeks. I rarely get paper catalogs anymore since I do most of my shopping over the Internet but there are a few that make for good reference material throughout the growing season.

Of course, my all-time favorite is White Flower Farm. In fact, I recently received a gift certificate and I've narrowed my selection. I usually try to pick something fairly unique, something that I don't normally find at my local nursery. The other catalog that I really like is Antique Rose Emporium. I ordered from them for the first time last year on the recommendation of my friend Barbara. This year will tell the tale as to whether I made good choices and whether or not I took proper care of them (which is to say, I did absolutely nothing at all) over the winter.

It's been rainy and dreary here for the past couple of days and there are no immediate signs of it letting up. So I'll continue to peruse my catalogs and start formulating some plans for the upcoming season.

Bookshelf: Container Gardening Books

Bookshelf

There are a whole lot of books out there about container gardening. I know, because I've bought my fair share. I'll tell you which ones I've held onto and refer to frequently and as I come across new ones, I'll add to the list.

Gardens To Go: Creating and Designing a Container Garden by Sydney Eddison. This lady is just amazing. She has written numerous books on gardening but this one is, of course, my favorite. It covers all of the basics from choosing containers and plants to arranging, maintaining and overwintering. The picture of that rooftop garden on page 29 is phenomenal.

P. Allen Smith's Container Gardens. All of Smith's books are
beautifully produced and photographed.
This book contains "recipes" for containers that you can plant in each season.
He's not afraid to really cram the plants together so that you can have instant impact. I often look at his diagrams and think there's no way all those plants will fit, but they do and they look amazing.


Container Gardening by Paul Williams. This is a very practical guide that does a great job of showing you how to marry plants with pots. He schools you on color, texture and proportion. This would be the book I'd go to if I was trying to make a major style statement with maybe just a container or two (or three).

The Ultimate Container Gardener by Stephanie Donaldson.
This book is where I got the idea to use a wooden wine case as a container. She used hers to plant various herbs, which I have done in past years, but last year I also used one to grow different types of lettuces. The
book is filled with all kinds of creative projects and
includes step-by-step directions.

Container Plants for Patios, Balconies and Windowsills by Halina Heitz. I like this book's fairly comprehensive section on the myriad of plants that are suitable for containers. Unfortunately, it may be a bit difficult to find. It's available via various sellers on Amazon. Worth it if you can find it.

Color Coordination

Today's weather was not conducive to plant shopping. It's been pouring rain, windy and chilly so I've postponed my shopping trip. I hope to get out there on Sunday. Meanwhile, I was digging through my gardening books and supplies and rediscovered this handy tool that beginning gardeners might appreciate. Often times, beginning gardeners don't trust their own eyes when it comes to selecting plants and coordinating colors. Sometimes it seems like more of a challenge when you are planting a container because everything is jammed in there so close and it can be much more startling if competing colors are battling it out in such a small space.

My first piece of advice would be to trust your own eye because you probably won't go too wrong. But if you need a crutch, or just a handy tool to inspire you to think outside your usual realm of color combinations, here's what I recommend: The Gardener's Color Wheel. It's pretty much an artist's color wheel but tweaked a little bit for a gardener's use. It comes with a booklet that reviews the vocabulary of color, explains contrast and harmony and offers color scheme ideas. The wheel can be found for about $15 at the Color Wheel Company .

Bookshelf: Container Gardening Books