Container Plants for Beginners: ABCs of Plant Care, Choosing Plants for Decks and Patios, Design Suggestions for Every Season

Approximately 290 color photos highlight this volume, which shows how to create a miniature garden on a balcony, terrace, or other confined space. A major ingredient for success is the assortment of proper plant containers--urns, tubs, and flower boxes of various sizes to accommodate the needs of different plants. Clearly presented advice for novice gardeners places emphasis on beauty--how to achieve a harmony of blossoms and greenery. Readers learn how to plan a container garden by cultivating plants that blossom in successive months in a temperate climate. Such gardens retain their beauty through all but the few coldest months of each year. A plant directory describes approximately 100 varieties with color photos, thumbnail advice on cultivation, and months of the year when each plant blooms. Plants detailed here include roses and rhododendrons, fuchsia and oleander, dahlias and petunias, bougainvillea, and dozens more flowering varieties. Also in the directory are fruit trees that can be raised in tubs, ferns and shrubs for rich, green backgrounds, and even vegetables that can be cultivated successfully in containers. Each plant profile is supplemented with a set of pictograms that give information at a glance on watering, fertilizing, needed sunlight, and other details. Poisonous plants that are potentially dangerous to pets and kids are also labeled. Plants are listed by their popular names, followed by botanical designations. Full-color photos on every page.