One of the easiest ways to grow tomatoes and other vegetables is in pots. There's freedom from worrying about soil conditions, watering, etc., when you grow tomatoes this way. You can grow both pole (indeterminate) and bush (determinate) tomatoes in pots. 'Missouri Love Apple' is a potato-leafed, indeterminate tomato that I grew from seed. Which containers? Because I like using large containers to grow tomatoes, I chose fabric pots, including 20-gallon Smart Pots—made in Oklahoma—and 30-gallon Grassroots pots—constructed in California. This year, I also bought Vivosun. While you only need a five-gallon bucket or pot to grow a tomato, the larger pots make sense in my garden. I plant marigolds with tomatoes because they're cheerful flowers for pollinators. I also grow peppers, pentas, and Asian eggplants in my containers. When you grow tomatoes in pots and use larger ones, you have more freedom to add flowers and herbs. These 'Durango...

I've been getting a lot of requests from my garden-coaching clients and other friends for a late-April garden update. So, I thought I would brief everyone all at once about what is going on in my garden now. Common chives getting ready to bloom. Won't the bees be happy? Also, a new red fountain. The old one broke, and it just wasn't fixable. Seeds I've sown in the potager. My first garden update is in the potager. The seeds for cool-weather vegetables, including kale, bok choy, radishes, three kinds of lettuce, and 'Sugar Ann' sweet-podded peas are up and growing. I also grew nasturtiums and calendula in the greenhouse to grow them larger to place outside. They are all now transplanted outdoors. I love the variegated foliage of 'Alaska' nasturtiums. Black-seeded Simpsom lettuce and calendula surrounded by lavender. It must be heaven. Two nasturtium plants up and halfway died. There...

One of the best ways to fill your garden with color is to grow summer flowers from seed. Growing flowers from seed is cheaper than buying plants, and you'll also find a greater variety of flowers if you grow them yourself. This is a long post so grab a cup of coffee and buckle your seatbelts. Repurposed containers for seed planting. These type of containers can be used for vegetables, along with perennial and annual flowers. Create a drift of flowers wherever you want. When I start annuals and perennials from seed, I can plant a drift of flowers wherever I want them, especially for those flowers I start indoors or in the greenhouse. This gives me greater freedom, and it's cheaper than buying transplants although I still buy transplants, especially perennials. You can grow many perennials from seed too, but it takes a bit longer. You might not get...

With this morning's bright sunshine and blue skies, I am overflowing with April garden thoughts. In fact, I've been thinking about this blog post for a couple of weeks ever since my blogging friend, Sonia, of Miss Bloomers, commented about working to enjoy spring on Facebook. Middle of the garden looking back up to the kitchen and garage. I walk out the kitchen every morning, coffee cup in hand and simply walk the garden thinking about what to do where. What is it to delight in spring? Do gardeners even know how to enjoy April or are we so busy with our to-do lists that we are blind to the miracles right in front of us? . Blindingly yellow daffodils For gardeners, is spring just a series of to-do lists? After all, April's garden thoughts could be anything, couldn't they? I could list a series of April garden chores and...