There are as many forms of container gardening as there are containers and gardeners, no right way, probably a few wrong ways, and in this story, following Frank Sinatra… My Way.

Why outdoor planted container gardening? Many reasons: lack of garden space, lack time to spend gardening, seasonal and weather factors, but in my case it’s soil conditions. I have plenty of garden space, time to garden, a benign climate and… terrible, absolutely wretched clay soil, the kind they use to build adobe houses. It doesn’t drain, sticks like brown paste when wet, dries like a brick.

I also love to grow flowers for cutting so containers reign at my house. I must confess to having more than 100 pots and baskets scattered and clustered throughout my garden, but for this story I am going to concentrate on those in which I grow seasonal flowers for cutting, sweet peas in the winter and spring months, dahlias from summer into autumn. I think of these as crops. My wife thinks of them as joyful.  We both have fun.

For growing these crops I have chosen large, black, heavy duty plastic containers, 20 gallon size, that measure 24 inches across and 18 inches high. While not exactly artistic, they are practical, durable and reasonably priced. Each 20 gallon container holds about 3 cubic feet of potting soil and costs $24.99. I would guess that each container produces about ten times its cost in cut flowers.

My Favorite Containers

These same containers come in 15 gallon ($14.99) and 25 gallon ($29.99) sizes.

While I have chosen sweet peas and dahlias, I could grow vegetables (almost any kind from tomatoes to squashes to berries)  roses, flowers of different  kinds, succulents, citrus in these same containers.

My planting cycle begins in the early fall when I plant sweet peas. I like to start them from seed in September, but I could also buy them as four inch plants in November. This past year Rogers imported seeds from English hybridizers and then worked with one of our best suppliers to grow them into four inch plants.

A curve ball arrives with the need for support trellises for the sweet peas to climb and the home run is hit with strong wire trellises that literally fold in half for storage so that you do not need to replace your car in the garage with trellises.

Trellises unfolded ready for use

Trellises folded for easy storage

So, here we are in March and my sweet peas are flourishing, having climbed half way up the trellises on their way to the top and beginning to bloom and here comes curve ball number two: it’s time to plant dahlia tubers and my containers are full of sweet peas that will bloom for the next couple of months.

I solve this dilemma by starting my Dahlias, both the tubers that I removed and stored last autumn and new ones that I bought this year, in 3 gallon nursery cans.

Sweet Peas are thriving and dahlias are waiting their turn in 3 gallon nursery cans.

Sweet Peas are hard to beat for beauty and fragrance

Of course, you could start your dahlias in other sizes of temporary containers, but I have found the 3 gallon size just right.

My container gardening cycle shifts gears again around June first when the sweet peas have run out of gas and the dahlias are ready to transplant. It’s a lot of work to remove the sweet pea plants, remove and store the trellises, replenish the potting soil and plant the dahlias, but within a few weeks I have armloads of dahlias to arrange in the house and share with friends.

Summer means Dahlias and I will have loads of them

The potting soil quality is important, but a good product can last several year with only partial replenishment. Not surprisingly, I choose Rogers Potting Soil.

Roger’s Gardens Potting Soil

And do not forget to feed. For flowers, Rogers Flower Food is specifically formulated to stimulate flowering plants.

And, finally, cut those flowers. The more you cut the more they bloom.