Al and Nathan, I hope that you don't mind my sharing a humorous story about Turface, that really highlights your points and underscores how respected a product Turface is in the industry. My son is a Turf Grass Agronomy major at a large Southern university, and did an internship last spring/summer at one of the major league baseball spring training facilities in Florida. Turface is used for excess water on the fields that occurs during rainstorms, especially those "popcorn" showers (downpours) that occur frequently in Florida. It has helped prevent many a game "rainout" due to its effectiveness. It takes many bags of Turface to do this (for one game), which can become a bit pricey---so it's a protected commodity in the baseball industry. During one sudden torrential downpour, the Grounds Crew quickly pulled the tarp over the infield, and then took cover in the visiting team's dugout to wait out the storm. The Turface bags were kept to the side in the visiting dugout, near where the Grounds workers were standing. The visiting team's pitcher had a bad inning just prior to the rainstorm, and came into the dugout kicking and throwing things, as they sometimes do. As he looked for things to use to vent his frustration, he eyed the bags of Turface to the side, and the Grounds workers caught his glance, and could tell that he was tempted to kick them, also. They immediately, in *unison*, said "don't even think about it!". Throw your glove, knock over some bats, kick the bubblegum containers over, but don't mess with the Turface...unless you want to take on the Grounds Crew... :)

Yes, it can be grown in a container - I have several clematis in pots growing on my deck. How large a pot depends a good deal on the type of clematis - some clems are bred specifically for this purpose and are quite compact plants. But other clematis can get to be large vines and will develop a root system to match. These need a generously sized container to accommodate their larger root system. My larger vines are in containers that are about 24" deep and about 18" across at the top with a slight slope to the base - like an oversized flower pot. You want a good textural, fast draining potting mix and add some CRF like Osmocote. In zone 7b, there is no reason to assume this container could not stay outside all winter. The large flowered hybrids are hardy to z4, so quite able to withstand the cold if in a generously sized container and z7 soils seldom freeze to any appreciable degree anyway. It would be more a matter of the durability of the container - if you use a plastic or plastic resin pot or a freeze proof glazed ceramic container, you are good to go!

Pineapple is easy. Just use any three to five gallon container. Whatever you like. The first one I grew is two years old. It's in a five gallon container with three mini roses. Its three foot wide and at least a foot tall. We only get one month of summer - August so it's starting to get a growth spurt as the weather hits 80. Hoping for my first homegrown pineapple this year. I have a bunch of first year ones in three gallon containers and they're getting more sunlight and double the size in a few months. Just bought a couple and placed them in a 20 gallon container with herbs and strawberry.

Thyme, Oregano, Chives, Peppermint, Catnip and Lavender are all hardy and should survive the winter for you in the ground. Peppermint, however, is a spreader so would be better in a pot. Parsley is a biennial and needs to be grown from seed every year. Basil and Cilantro are annuals and also need to be sown every year. In fact Cilantro needs sowing several times every season since it is short lived before it bolts. Rosemary is a shrub but probably not hardy for you so would be better in a pot.