Hello Everyone I am a beginner gardener I started earlier this year from seeds. I am choosing to grow organically but had issues this year with the heat, pests and I will admit knew nothing about soil etc I made mistakes and some veggies did well considering my lack of experience and knowledge. I lost some plants due to pests, the severe heat. I did container gardening as that is what suites me at the moment with moving etc. I took a break as I recently moved but do miss planting my seeds with my son (2 year old who LOVED waking his seeds up with our lamp and watching them grow!). My question and concern is....I really really want to do things right this time around and I must admit I am educating myself heavily before proceeding. I feel I have the seed starting down for the most part, its the transplanting and continued growth that I struggle with. If someone can PLEASE break down the whole idea and concept and NEEDS when it comes to container soil? Literally in kindergarten level. From what soil should contain, where earthworm casting, compost and fertilizer come in the picture and HOW/WHEN these should be added to my base soil. Can I mix Casting, Compost with a Soil that has fertilizer as I am transplanting? Should they be separated and used at different times? My apologies for lack in knowledge I just want my plants to thrive this next time around and be able to understand better as resources explain but not enough breakdown to say OH I GET IT! Please Help Thank You :) ALSO! Is Bat Guano, Manure etc a MUST? I would like to avoid this along with anything non organic method. I Personally Love Black Gold brands of soils etc so if anyone has experience with their products listings would be wonderful :)

OOS - it's cool to find someone else interested in gardening in So. Westchester. I find remarkably few people garden in the area. What's your favorite nursery around here? I like Nabel's in Mamaroneck. Putting plants together in a container is like flower arranging with a moving target - how can I economically and easily keep a series of mixed containers in continuous display? Maybe I'm over-thinking this (it wouldn't be the first time), but I practice intensive cultivation on my vegetable beds, why not in my containers? My interest in mixing annuals and perennials is in part because I bought a bunch of dwarf bulbs on sale and need to justify it to my wife ("it's an investment, sweetheart!") and because I enjoy seed starting annuals and need a new project once everything's planted in the veg garden. Redneck and Gary, I think what you do is closer to my goals than the style OOS uses, since I'm interested in a mix of plants in a series of larger planters (although OOS's backyard filled with a variety of individual containers is maybe the same thing on a larger scale). But you're both from more temperate zones - I don't even think about winter for my outdoor containers (although maybe I can overwinter some ivies and such in the house). I love the idea Redneck proposes of using ferns (I love ferns but haven't ever grown them), but most of my containers are in full sun so they would probably bake. BTW, yes, they are dwarf cannas. I guess utlimately what the original post was trying to ask is whether the best way to maintain a larger mixed container is to plant it up all in one go with enough foresight that it looks good for 4-6 months or whether you should constantly be moving new plants in and out as I do in my veg beds. And if you're going to move new plants in and out, do you start in a series of smaller containers and move them to new containers when they're at their peak? With either approach, what plants work well? It's interesting that everyone named perennials for the most part - I had envisioned more reliance on annuals. I'm going to follow up with a separate post asking for ideas for good container annuals started from seed...

Sherri-- The trick is that I got him hooked on roses. I just buy him a rose from time-to-time and I think that keeps him willing to help me. We counted his roses and he now has 19. I also use pot roast, homemade chili, and blackened chicken alfredo as persuasive devices. Then again, I would also recommend steak marinated in garlic, a touch of worcheshire sauce and brown sugar.... next to a sweet potato with honey butter and cinnamon. THIS I use in times of desperation. lol Buford--I cannot wait for the hill to burst into bloom. This is year 3....the long awaited year of maturity. I'd say a quarter of the roses up there are at or above 3 yrs old. They are really filling in and finally getting to that picture I have in my mind. The small side yard was a slope breaking away from the house. Horrible to mow and really bad on my bad knee. I elevated the side yard with cinderblocks and then veneered those. Then, against the house I addded a bed with a rock veneer wall. Now I can grow roses, perennials and even tomatoes in an area that was once only suitable for a billy goat. I finally feel like the 'bones' of the yard are done. There will always be things to play with...but I hope the hard labor is done. I am sure Tommy does too. lol Ronda

Granted I got a late start, but not a good harvest. The carrots are still pencil sized, tomato production was lame and flavorless (probably too much water). So do you pull the determinant tomatoes and start over in Aug? The two season thing is new to me. The infestations seem to be non-stop too. Army cutworms, then tomato hornworms, then spider mites, then leaf miners, then gulf fruitilary cats. Did I mention the coons that ate what few tomatoes I had? The one thing that seems to be fairly immune is the asparagus and peppers (even the peppers were attacked). Luckily the coons gave up on vegetables after a stalk or two.