Looking for advice on what to grow...

**Telephus44** · 01-06-2006, 08:04 PM

I'm still a container gardener. After looking over my notes from last year (thanks to whoever was the original person who gave the advice to take notes!) I have decided that I was overly ambitious. Last year one of my big goals for gardening was to reduce my food budget by growing lots of my own vegetables. After carefully re-examining what I have for conditions and time (as well as my harvest last year) I'm not going to aim that high. This was a tough decision to come to, but I know that with my new job I'm working longer hours and won't have as much time to devote to a very "productive" garden.

This year I'm going back to gardening because I love it. And yes, I am still going to have some vegetables, but I'm growing them because they are beautiful! So here are the two seeds I'm thinking of buying, I was wondering if anyone had any opinions. (I live in MA and have a south facing deck that gets full sun most of the day)

A Black Pepper Plant:

https://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/...ng&ItemId=3953

A bean plant with very pretty flowers:

https://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/...ng&ItemId=5511

Here are the two flowers that I know for sure that I'm getting:

https://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/...ng&ItemId=0021

https://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/...ng&ItemId=0628

I've never grown either of these before, but for some reason they really appeal to me.

And I know that I'll pick up a few more annuals (flowers) at the garden store in May - pansies (my favorite) and probably a few others. I tried to grown strawberry plants in grow bags last year, one of my cats ended up eating the plants - so I pulled out the strawberries and put in pansies - they looked stunning!

**canadian gardener** · 01-07-2006, 05:51 PM

Sara one of the books I rely on the most is Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholemew.

I used to have quite a few plants on a hot sunny deck where I could ripen tomatoes even in Prince George BC where you can't do that without a green house normally.

I used to use the square foot book for ideas, I had a number of containers.

I've also used that book to get the maximum amount of veggies out of the minimum garden space when gardening.

**canadian gardener** · 01-07-2006, 05:52 PM

less work too.

**forestdale** · 01-07-2006, 06:02 PM

Sara, great choices. I think the pepper and the bean will look as pretty as your flowers.

I've grown yarrow in my front garden in the past, I had the yellow one. I'm replantng one in the herb garden this year. They are beautiful plants.

The coreopsis will grow just about anywhere. I was overrun with them in my last house. They make a lovely little cut bunch for the kitchen table too.

I'm transplanting my strawberries into hanging baskets in the next week. I'll let you know how they go.