Do You Container or Vertical Garden?

Do you love the idea of a garden of colorful and beautiful flowers or delicious and healthy vegetables, but you can't dig, have limit space, or have never gardened before? 

Well, those reasons are exactly why we love vertical and container gardens. I want to share a few things we love here.It is always important to check your climate zone guide for the optimal planting time. We are in South Alabama, so we can wait a little longer than our friends up North. I preferred to transplant rather than grow from seeds when I was fist learning. It was much easier for me, especially when the time came to be put into the ground or my container and I was scratching my head wondering when it sneaked up on me. (Or I decided on a whim that it was planting day Don't judge!) If you want to start from seeds, then you must already be working with them during the heat of the summer. Bonnie Plants are my favorite to work with when buying them at transplant stage. The ones I will share with you today are wonderful hardy (can tolerate hard frost 25-28°F) and semi-hardy (light frost 29-32°F) vegetables, flowers, and herbs.

Fall/Winter crop bounty

Herbs are wonderful. I like to use fresh herbs as often as possible to give flavor to my dishes. Parsley, Sage, Chives, Lavender, Cilantro, and Mint are a few great cool weather herbs. Mint and Lavender have such a wonderful fragrance to them and a mixture of the 2 will give you beautiful greens and purples to enjoy as well as fresh seasonings to Autumn meals or mixed to make soaps and potpourri.  I love to use Cilantro in Salsa and Pico De Gallo. It has a distinct flavor that is refreshing. Chives make a great addition to soups. I could go on and on! A wonderful thing about Herbs is that with full sun and proper watering, they keep on producing all season! You can harvest and dry them to enjoy year round. I like to use the FloVert wall mounted planter. It has 5 pockets so you can separate your herbs because some herbs try to crowd others out. FloVert is natural and flexible as well as easily attached to walls or railings. Even if you only have a small balcony, you can still have big taste.

Lavender

Cineraria was made for the shade, so with gloomy or overcast days, you will not have to worry. Cineraria can grow up to 2ft high and wide with Daises that range in varieties of color like white, red, blue, purple, and pink. Regular water and loose, rich soil will produce a beautiful flowering plant. Pair it with greenery or even some herbs for even more beauty. A wonderful container for a beautiful display would be WallPots. The offer 3 flexible, but durable pockets so you can mix and match your garden. WallPots are lightweight and very easy to hang on your patio walls or fences.

Cineraria Variety

A family favorite of ours is Cabbage. We love to eat it in a variety of ways like steamed, grilled, baked, or in soups. Cabbage is very easy to grow, but needs a larger container because they like their space. The rule of thumb is 12-24" between plants and 1-2" of the main stem buried. This is easily achieved with a large pot or bucket that has a drainage access. You will want a soil with good compost to help retain moisture. Cabbages demand a lot of moisture to produce good heads. Careful not to over water though, you never want your plants just standing in water, but with a nice, really moist soil. You will average about 1-1.5 inches of water a week if it doesn't rain. When the head of the cabbage is formed and firm, cut it from the base of the plant. The Trio Life 3 Tier Vertical Planter is a neat system that won't take up a lot of room. Plant your Cabbages on the bottom tier and you still have 2 more tiers for more yummy goodness.

Thank you for joining us today. We always love to hear about what you are growing. Hop on over to our website, www.verticalgardeningsystems.com/, to get started with your very own cool weather garden. Also, if the mention of Pico De Gallo has your mouth watering, you can visit our friends over at Southern Garden Tools blog for the recipe.