It was time to do some cleaning and go through all of the plant containers, so there are lots of extras available if anyone wants them! These need to get out of the way, and I thought IÂd give this a try. There are lots of pots, all different shapes and sizes square and round, clay and plastic, big and small. I will not have time to clean these up any more than dusting them off, and those that have been used for seed starting will probably have tape or marker on the sides. In other words, youÂll probably need to clean them when they arrive. I tried to go through them all, and removed anything broken, but canÂt guarantee I caught everything. There is nothing in particular IÂm looking for as a trade right now. Feel free to make an offer of whatever (?). Or if you are in the Rochester NY area, we may be able to arrange for you to come over and pick some up. Or as a third alternative, IÂll send you what you request if you reimburse my postage costs. If we havenÂt had a previous trade and youÂd like some feedback on me before sending postage, I could send you a link to my eBay feedback page. I would prefer we use priority mail for these, so I can get boxes at the post office. I have many on-going projects right now, and unfortunately very little time to spend doing this. If this becomes too time-consuming, I may have to call an end to any new requests coming in. But weÂll give it a try :-) When you contact me, let me know specifically what youÂre interested in (either describe the actual item, or give me a general color / shape / size request). Please visit my exchange page for a very quick list of what is available. IÂll try to keep it updated, and may add more later as I find them. I did not get a chance to count exact amounts or give lots of details, but hopefully the photos will help answer any questions. Thanks! Kelly

Growing shrubs in a pot can be challenging! While those are handsome pots, I can see several problems you will have. The narrow base will make them more prone to tipping over when there is wind with the arborvitae on top. You have a quite restricted amount of room for roots, width-wise, and since the bottom part of the pot is filled with rocks and styrofoam, there isn't much root depth. The less soil and the narrow pot means that temperature and moisture will fluctuate more than with a bigger pot. If I were you, I might try getting a wider (& as deep as possible) pot and filling it with potting soil, not garden soil, and replant your surviving arborvitaes. Garden soil tends to be more dense than potting soil, and without enough air spaces, the plants' roots don't get enough air. (In the garden, soil gets aerated by worms, moles, etc as well as having organic matter constantly added from on top naturally.) Also, potting soil is lighter in weight than garden soil if your situation has weight limits. Water deeply when the soil feels dry when you stick in your finger to the first knuckle. Since some of your plants get more sun than others, you will have to check each plant separately. Too much water for your shady plants may be what killed them. Also, in general, arborvitae are sun plants, so will want at least 6 hours of sun to grow really well and full, though they will grow with less, just not as densely. They won't be happy in full or almost full shade. I am assuming that you are planting to block the view beyond your railing or to give some privacy. If you decide your conditions aren't good for arborvitae, some other plants that are tall enough and full enough to help give you a green wall and are tolerant of living in pots include ornamental grasses (there are some quite full, tall grasses, though they will need sun), bamboo, and vines on an obelisk or trellis (some clematis will tolerate part shade, and there are many annual vines, though most of those like sun.) I've also heard of folks fastening bamboo screening to a fence, which lets in some air, but provides some privacy, and then planting in front of it. Since the plants don't need to be quite as dense to ensure privacy, you will have more choices. There are container and balcony garden forums here on Garden Web where you may get more info. Read their FAQ's (if they have a set) and search for arborvitae and evergreen. See what info you can get just from reading a bunch of posts, and then ask for information that you still need. You can also find books and magazines in your local bookstore or library that will have photos to inspire you with a variety of choices. Researching roof gardens will probably help give you ideas as well. Just remember that whatever you plant should be about 2 zones hardier than where you actually are if you want them to survive the winter in pots. Good luck and let us know what you decide to do.

I have done the same for the last 2 years, and last year grew about 100 seedlings and gave away about 90, since I only have room for 10 or 12 in my garden. I used the generic little white plastic drink cups from Walmart the size of "dixie" cups to start them (about 1.50 for about 200) and potted them up into large drink cups. I used Solo the first year and hefty last year because they were cheaper. I used a sharpie to write the variety directly on the cups. Warning, don't know why, but last year the sharpie washed off the hefty cups after I put them in the garden. When I used the solo brand, I planted into the garden then put the cup right next to it and filled it with soil to weigh it down and pushed it into the soil a little and they stayed put the entire season. Just a reminder, I use a nail to punch a few holes in the the bottom of each cup, and by stacking the cups I can punch through several at one time. I am trying to keep the cost down as much as possible since I don't ask for money for any of these. Now if I can just find a less expensive place to buy seed starting and potting mix! Even at Costco and Walmart prices filling 100 solo cups takes quite a bit of mix. Oops, sorry this doesn't really answer your question about where to get 3 1/2 pots, but you might consider other containers if you can't find a good enough price. :) This post was edited by sue_ct on Fri, Feb 1, 13 at 14:19

I'm not an apartment dweller, but love to garden (and heaven knows there are a bazillion gardening forums here, you might ask the Container gardening forum.) I'd stick with easy, low maintenance since they'll most likely be in containers. For shade, some examples would be Impatiens and Coleus. For sun to part Shade, pansies for spring, later petunias (trailing are nice in window boxes), marigolds, salvia, snapdragons. Those varieties will often reseed themselves in my gardens and turn up again next year ;) You're probably already aware of this, but the cool thing about starting from seed is you can get harder to find plants (not mass sold at nurseries and garden centers) and those luscious heirloom varieties (non-hybrid, you can save seed from those once you've done your first crop). I started growing heirloom Sweetpeas years ago and I have to tell you, the fragrance from them was like that of a lilac or rose bush. (The non-heirloom hybrids don't have fragrance like that.) Of course they need a trellis to grow and do get quite tall (5' easily). Super easy to start from seed, and if one could manage a pot with trellis, the fragrance wafting off a balcony into the apartment would be heavenly. They tend to peter out in hottest months, but rebound again in fall. (They like cooler weather, like Pansies, and I just kept the dried leaves pinched off mine in summer till cool fall temps hit again and got more flushes of blooms).