If I container plant, just as the others have suggested I put one herb type per container. Depending upon the herb, it may also be just one plant in the container or it may be multiple. It really depends upon the plant and how I intend to use it. But since plants all like different amounts of water, different amounts of light, different soil preferences, etc. having only one per container works out best. You can always try putting a variety of different plants in the same container. See how it fares versus single plant/species pots. Gardening is a great thing to learn experientially. Eventually though, I think you'll come to the same conclusion we already have. ;) FataMorgana

okay so maybe they are fungus gnats, i really looked at them close and they look like tiny mosquitoes. and they don't really fly around too much, just along the dirt and leaves. i really do think that they bite but maybe its just something else, i know that whatever it is that bites me is also very small. but actually might be smaller. i read that the fungus gnat is not only attracted to over watered dirt, but also decomposing material. one of my plants i know for a fact has a lot of wood rot on the root structure. that plant also seems to be the most infested. also it is very very very humid here so they might be finding enough moisture just from that. i am going to continue to try and let my plants dry out as much as possible, and i am throwing away the insecticide because it doesn't effect them and it is kind of harsh on some of my softer tissued plants. i might get rid of the tree that is decomposing, its a wild cherry tree i dug up last year to try and turn into a bonsai but i think its pretty much a lost cause. as for the rest of my plants. i am not only going to try and make sure my plants dry out but i am also going to try and replant all of my plants in soil that is inorganic so that the gnats have nothing to feed on, all of the soil i have now has a lot of wood in the mix. most of it is miracle grow and i think that the dirt was infected when i bought it. so i just need to spend a little more money and get a better quality soil. and just for the record all of the miracle grow soil that i have bought i have mixed in grit so that it is better draining but i don't think that is going to be enough. hopefully i can get rid of these damn bugs!!!

Hi Maingrower, well, I hadn't checked my email until now, but, anyways, I have just planted this Rhodie in the huge pot about 2 hours ago. I will say that the rootball of this Rhodie would be really difficult to plant under any of the big trees I have now. I have planted MANY small native rhodies under some of my medium sized oaks with no problem, but, this rhodie was too big. Imagine digging a hole in a densely rooted piece of ground, and that hole would need to be about 9 inches deep, and about 16 inches wide, and that is after chipping into the rootball to get rid of circling roots. I have the Eastern white pines and a row of Silver Maples, which are the neighbors trees on the property line, but, being in a pot, a want to be able to stretch a hose to the pot in cases of drought, those Silver Maples are way down at the end of my property line. I know I asked for opinions, but, I am going to just hope for the best here. The fact that this rhodie did great being potbound in a much smaller pot for a year or 2, and who knows how long it was potbound before I bought it? This pot it's in now is likely a 200 gallon pot, maybe even 250-300 gallons. I've even mulched the Rhodie in that huge pot. I am not worried, I have purchased more native Rhodies, they were small but, upon planting (in the ground, under several of my oaks) I discovered that each of the 4 small native Rhodies, were actually 2 or 3 little Rhodies each, so I actually got 8-9 rhodies from that purchase of 4 small rhodies. These are all Rhododendron Maximum. I've planted them all in mostly or all shade because I like the form they take when grown in full or mostly shade. You know more lanky, and a bit twisty, not compact, and I have many trees in my yard, I really love the look they take on in nature in dappled shade, and my oaks should provide that, and I want to get the baby Rhodies roots in there with my medium sized oaks, so they can do well with my oaks roots, which aren't too invasive, but, will make some competition too. I do have to protect them from the damn deer in winter, though. Besides the E. White Pine roots, there is also a volunteer Sassafrass tree there, anyways, thanks for your opinion, and you may be right long term, but, I have seen many plants live in smaller pots for many decades, and they are plants that get much larger than the native Rhodies, so I am hoping it all is fine. I have seen them growing on cliffs with not much soil also, but, maybe there was a long taproot going down into some soil etc. Anyways, I'm hoping this will be fine.

Overwintering something in a container is much easier in a zone 7b than it would be in colder zones. Zone 7 soils do not freeze to any significant degree and most plants will tolerate the colder air temps as well. Winter protection is generally not a requirement unless growing only marginally hardy plants. If you want to grow something year round in a container, pick something that will look good year round. Anything can be grown in a container provided the container is sized correctly and other concerns re: container gardening are properly addressed - proper soil mix, fertilizing and watering, repotting and/or root pruning. A mixed container generally has more interest than a single plant type, so a dwarf evergreen shrub, a small ornamental grass and one or more flowering perennials is a good basis from which to start. And you can mix this up if you wish, subbing a deciduous flowering shrub as the centerpiece (or a dwarf conifer) and adding evergreen perennials like heuchera, hellebores, euphorbias, bergenias, etc. Fine Gardening typically has a great presentation on mixed containers, both in their magazine (seasonally) as well as many of their online articles that are good for inspiration. Keep in mind the three basic elements - "thriller" (centerpiece plant), "filler" (fluffy/full middle ground plants) and "spillers" (cascading plants/grasses or groundcovers) and it's hard to go wrong :-) btw, I'd suggest you spend some time visiting the Container Gardening forum to bone up on potting soils and fertilizing needs and other CG requirements that are very specific to this topic. It will be hugely helpful and informative.