Staff Pick
Whether you're looking to expand your traditional garden, gussy up a patio, or put your apartment balcony (however tiny) to work, McGee and Stuckey's The Bountiful Container has all the tools you need to create an edible container garden that is both bountiful and beautiful. Ten out of 10 Powell's employees agree (well, three out of three, but I'm sure if I asked around...) that this is the be-all, end-all resource for edible container gardening. Recommended By Tove H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
With few exceptions-such as corn and pumpkins-everything edible that's grown in a traditional garden can be raised in a container. And with only one exception watering container gardening is a whole lot easier. Beginning with the down-to-earth basics of soil, sun and water, fertilizer, seeds and propagation,
The Bountiful Container is an extraordinarily complete, plant-by-plant guide.
Written by two seasoned container gardeners and writers, The Bountiful Container covers Vegetables-not just tomatoes (17 varieties) and peppers (19 varieties), butharicots verts, fava beans, Thumbelina carrots, Chioggia beets, and sugarsnap peas. Herbs, from basil to thyme, and including bay leaves, fennel, and saffron crocus. Edible Flowers, such as begonias, calendula, pansies, violets, and roses. And perhaps most surprising, Fruits, including apples, peaches, Meyer lemons, blueberries, currants, and figs-yes, even in the colder parts of the country. (Another benefit of container gardening: You can bring the less hardy perennials in over the winter.) There are theme gardens (an Italian cook's garden, a Four Seasons garden), lists of sources, and dozens of sidebars on everything from how to be a human honeybee to seeds that are All America Selections.
Review
"McGee and Stuckey's directions are comprehensive, clearly written and frequently inspiring." Publishers Weekly
Review
The book that might inspire even me to grow more than a tomato or two... With this book, a splash of sunlight, a pot and a bag of soil you can be a farmer....The down-to-earth, knowledgeable tone of the book convinces the reader that container gardening is the ideal.... "
Valerie Easton, Seattle Times
Synopsis
Clear and easy directions: Vegetables for every season: 21 varieties of beans, including favas and haricots verts; peppers from sweet orange Valencias to fiery Thai Dragons (a scorcher at 60,000 Scoville units); dwarf eggplants; fingerling potatoes; 17 terrific tomatoes; lettuces; and Asian greens like bok choy, mizuna, and Chinese kale. Herbs, including basils green and purple, exotic lemongrass, soothing chamomile, saffron crocus, and the essential culinary herbs such as parsley, rosemary, sage, tarragon, and the many thymes. Fruits: Meyer lemons, strawberries, gooseberries, figs, and even apples, peaches, and grapes. And edible flowers, like tart begonias, pepper nasturtiums, clove-spicy dianthus, and sweet daylilies, to add enchantment to meals.
Complete with all the basics of choosing the right containers, determining soil types, applying fertilizers, and knowing when to start from seed and when to start from seedling.
About the Author
Besides Storey's Country Tea Party, Maggie Stuckey has written a number of gardening books, such as Aromatherapy for Everyone, The Complete Herb Book, and Green Plants for Gray Days. She likes to grow tea herbs, and tea parties are one of the most pleasurable ways for her to spend time with her friends and her young niece. Maggie lives in Portland, Oregon.
Table of Contents
You and Your Garden
Managing your Space
Planning for Good Taste
Making your Garden Beautiful
Down-to-Earth Basics
Hardware: Containers, Trellises, Tools, and Storage
Software: Soil, Seeds, and Plants
Keeping a Healthy Garden
Plants for the Bountiful Container
Vegetables
Herbs
Fruits
Edible Flowers