The lily belongs to the Liliaceae family of which there are 250 genuses and 4-6000 known species. The Lily is so called after the Greek, Lerion, which means White Lily (Lilium Candidum), the llily comes from the northern hemisphere, and they are monocotyledonous, bulbous plants.

The Habit of the Lily
The lily blooms in Spring or Summer time and enjoy being grown in a soil that is well fertilised. The best place to plant the lily in in sunny but not direct sunlight. It also prefers protected areas as the lily does not enjoy being blown around in the wind.

When planting the lily a one foot deep hole should be made, then lines with compost or peat. Plant the bulbs and cover them with an inch of compost or peat. As a recommendation the bulb should be placed in the ground 3 times deeper than their height, thus if the onion is one inch in length plant it 3 inches deep.

Uses for the Lily Plant
Lillies are great in any garden, however they make a fantastic container plant. Because of its beauty it is extremely popular with Florists and you will see a lot of lilies in the flower shops since they look very nice in a bouquet. The cut flowers of the lily generally to live for eight days providing clean fresh water is supplied regularly.

For gardening tips see www.seedgarden.net or www.bamboofun.com

If you have designed your garden in such a way that you have areas of paving or gravel, you may want to liven these up with some well-planted containers. Equally, if your garden is very small, some strategically placed pots full of colourful flowers may be what you need.

Choosing Your Containers

• Pots are an obvious place to start. They come in all shapes and sizes, glazed, terracotta, hand-painted, stone (real or fake), plaster - you name it. If you intend to leave your pots outside all winter and you live in a cold climate, don’t forget they must be frost resistant. There’s no point buying hand-painted containers in Spain then expecting them to survive a winter in Scotland!
• Tip! ) Be prepared to invest a small amount of your earnings in purchasing the �Can’t do without�, gardening tools.
• Troughs look good against a straight wall but you need to choose your planting carefully because I’ve found that many plants quickly become pot bound in a trough. For example, in a trough 24inches (60 cms) long, I have just ONE verbena which is doing very well but it’s foliage reaches to each end and I originally thought that the trough would take at least three plants.
• Tip! Members can also preview gardening books, gardening videos, etc.
• Wooden containers. You can buy these or make them yourself if you have the skill and you can add a trellis for something to climb up the centre. You can use small split logs for a rustic effect or normal wooden planks for something a little more formal. Don’t forget to leave drainage holes. The wood will last longer if you apply a wood preservative and line your container with plastic. Many wood preservers are coloured these days so your container could be blue or green or whatever you like. The easiest to construct is obviously square, but if you’re a little more adventurous, you could try octagonal or triangular. Divided containers are great for growing herbs.
• Tip! Members can enter competitions to win free gardening products such as gardening accessories, tools, and other gardening supplies.
• Hanging baskets, wall hanging half baskets or pots or hanging pouches are lovely for trailing plants and can create quite a show in summer.
• Basket-shaped or amphora-shaped pots look great but are quite hard to plant and maintain.
• If you have a talent for construction, you could build your own pots or raised beds with bricks or decorative blocks.

Planting Your Containers

There are so many different plants suitable for container gardening that I would need a complete book to name them all. Suffice to say that a small shrub will grow ok in a large pot but won’t want to share will a stack of other things. Annuals are great for containers but will need to have the spent flowers removed to encourage further blooming. Herbs and alpines are good too but be careful of the sun/shade needed. Be careful also of herbs like mint which can take over a whole flower bed, never mind a pot, left to its own devices.

Unlike, traditional borders, container plants are planted very close together so you need to bear a number of things in mind.

• Buy proprietary compost. Garden borders can, to an extent, obtain nutrients from the soil itself plus leaf mulch and other naturally-occurring organic matter. Containers cannot so buy the best compost you can afford.
• Container plants need a whole lot more water than those in beds. Don’t think that just because it rained all day, much moisture will have penetrated the foliage - it probably won’t. In the height of summer, hanging baskets and the like (unless they have a water reservoir) will probably need watering twice a day. So you have a couple of choices; set up an irrigation system for your pots (optimum but pricey) or add a moisture retaining product to your compost (you will still need to water once a day). These are available at garden centres and take the form of a powder which you hydrate into a gel or water retaining balls which look like polystyrene, either of which you mix with the compost.
• Tip! Weed control is essential in successful vegetable gardening as weeds can rob cultivated plants of water, nutrients and light. It is important that the soil is hoed or cultivated after each rain or irrigation to kill the weeds that have sprouted.
• You will need to feed container plants more often. You can choose a compost which has already had sufficient nutrients added to last a season which is a good start for annuals. You can also buy slow-release pellets which you mix into the compost in the dosage recommended by the manufacturer. The alternative is to apply a liquid feed once or twice every two weeks throughout the growing season.
• Tip! Members can also access a free trial subscription of the Gardening How-To Magazine.
• OK, so you have your container and you’ve mixed the correct amount of water retention medium and feed into your compost as required, now for the planting.
• Try to design the planting on paper or in your minds eye before you start. Remember that trailing plants such as balcony geraniums or surfinia petunias need to be planted around the edge of the container.
• If you’re using baskets, line them with moss and/or a plastic liner. Fill one third with compost, plant the first “layer” of plants which will poke out of the sides of the basket, add the second third and finish with the top “layer”. If you’re using tubs, don’t forget the perspective - tall at the back or side against a wall or fence and smaller at the front.
• Groups of pots look good together, particularly if they’re colour co-ordinated and the addition of a few well-placed pebbles or coloured ornaments completes the effect.

All you need now to enjoy your container garden is a strategically placed table and chairs and a nice chilled glass of white wine!

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Gardening

Container gardens can create a natural sanctuary in a busy city street, along rooftops or on balconies. You can easily accentuate the welcoming look of a deck or patio with colourful pots of annuals, or fill your window boxes with beautiful shrub roses or any number of small perennials. Whether you arrange your pots in a group for a massed effect or highlight a smaller space with a single specimen, you’ll be delighted with this simple way to create a garden.

Container gardening enables you to easily vary your color scheme, and as each plant finishes flowering, it can be replaced with another. Whether you choose to harmonize or contrast your colors, make sure there is variety in the height of each plant. Think also of the shape and texture of the leaves. Tall strap-like leaves will give a good vertical background to low-growing, wide-leaved plants. Choose plants with a long flowering season, or have others of a different type ready to replace them as they finish blooming.

Experiment with creative containers. You might have an old porcelain bowl or copper urn you can use, or perhaps you’d rather make something really modern with timber or tiles. If you decide to buy your containers ready-made, terracotta pots look wonderful, but tend to absorb water. You don’t want your plants to dry out, so paint the interior of these pots with a special sealer available from hardware stores.
Cheaper plastic pots can also be painted on the outside with water-based paints for good effect. When purchasing pots, don’t forget to buy matching saucers to catch the drips. This will save cement floors getting stained, or timber floors rotting.
Always use a good quality potting mix in your containers. This will ensure the best performance possible from your plants.

If you have steps leading up to your front door, an attractive pot plant on each one will delight your visitors. Indoors, pots of plants or flowers help to create a cosy and welcoming atmosphere.
Decide ahead of time where you want your pots to be positioned, then buy plants that suit the situation. There is no point buying sun lovers for a shady position, for they will not do well. Some plants also have really large roots, so they are best kept for the open garden.

If you have plenty of space at your front door, a group of potted plants off to one side will be more visually appealing than two similar plants placed each side. Unless they are spectacular, they will look rather boring.

Group the pots in odd numbers rather than even, and vary the height and type. To tie the group together, add large rocks that are similar in appearance and just slightly different in size. Three or five pots of the same type and color, but in different sizes also looks affective.

With a creative mind and some determination, you will soon have a container garden that will be the envy of friends and strangers alike.

Bill McRea is the publisher of Garden Facts also Garden Decor and Landscape Trees Landscaping and Gardening with information and products.

Container gardening is popular for people who do not have the garden space for a large land lay out or for those who don’t want to make their gardens permanent. It can be very rewarding and many people are amazed what grows in containers. Growing plants in containers also comes with the added benefit that usually are not required to weed the garden plants as you would growing them in the ground. Most people grow edibles, herbs, and annuals in pots or containers, however many types of perennials, small trees or shrubs will also do well in containers. Here are a few tips for container gardening:

• Color�keep the color scheme simple. Too many colors will look like a crazy quilt. Cool colors such as blues, greens, and lavenders recede which gives the illusion they are smaller than they actually are. This can make a small space look larger. Two colors and one green is the general suggested ideal of most gardening professionals. You can create depth by using coarser textured dark or bright plants in the foreground and finer textured, paler colors in the back.
• Location�don’t forget about the conditions for plants. Do not put containers in a windy location. This will increase watering needs, break tall plants, and knock over pots and crack them. Do walk around your landscape and decide where you might place a container that will add color to a drab spot, or create a focal point. You may also want to consider the purpose of the plant, for instance a kitchen garden is best utilized if it has easy access.
• Pot or Container selection�decorative pots should complement your d�cor. A country type pot may look out of place if your d�cor is primarily modern. Plain pots make the plants a star. If you use decorative or elaborate pots, you may want to plant more modest plants that don’t overshadow the nice container. Regardless of the type of container you choose, make sure there are drainage holes. Drill extra drainage holes if you need. The most common way to kill a plant is root rott. Consider practicality, lighter pots are easier to move around. Unglazed clay pots dry out faster, are heavier, and can not be left outside. Sterilize pots by using a solution of 1 part bleach to 9 parts water. A toilet brush works well to scrub out the pot, and don’t forget to wash the inside.
• Potting soil�Get some slow release fertilizer (preferably a fertilizer that complements the type of plants you will have in the container) and add it to your potting soil�even if your potting soil says it has fertilizer in it. Add some compost for a more organic approach. Use fresh potting soil. You can use ready made or personal blends of potting soil. Good mixes include peat moss, vermiculite or perlite, composted bark, compost, fertilizer, or water holding crystals. If you are using a large pot you can fill the bottom with light weight items such as empty soda cans, packing peanuts, shredded papers so you won’t have to use as much potting soil
• Planting�There are two schools of thought about how densely to plant a garden. The first is that if you want the garden to look full and mature in the first year, you should have plants closer together, and will likely need to divide and thin them out later. With the second, if you have the patience to allow your garden to grow, leave room for the plants to grow into their home. In the meantime, you can fill in spaces with annuals. Average spacing is 6-12′’ spread or 2 plants per square foot. Or for less density, 12-24′’ or 1 plant per 2 square feet.
• Beginners may want to focus on drought tolerant and easy growing plants. Your local nursery can help you with these selections based on plants that work best for your climate and zone hardiness. Keep it simple, having one plant in a container is perfectly acceptable. Combine plants that have similar needs and equal strength. Aggressive plants can easily take over a container and your smaller plantings may get lost. A simple formula for putting multiple plants within a container is at least 1 tall, 1 filler, and one tailing plant. CHeck your plant daily, finger gage for watering needs, deadhead, weed, and pinch back when necessary.

Gentry is a stay at home mom, with a passion for writing. For more articles on easy living, visit http://www.genstyleliving.com.

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