If you grow in containers (pots) you need potting soil, period. It is essentially a soil-less mix of peat or coir, bark and some sort of drainage enhancement like perlite or pumice. Growing plants in a container is very different from growing them in the ground. It is essentially a closed system and the grower - you - needs to supply all the input of nutrients, water and sunlight. And because it is a closed system, drainage is critical. Potting soil has been formulated to have very good drainage - garden soil does not. Second to drainage is aeration. Potting soil typically offers a range of textures and therefore adequate pore space to provide aeration. Garden soil tends to be dense and very uniform in particle size so aeration is often miniscule at best. Garden soil - "dirt" - stays outdoors in the garden. You can enhance ordinary garden soil by adding compost or other organic matter or with various other amendments but often nothing else is required. Potting soil can be used for any container purpose - houseplants, seasonal color spots, hanging baskets, vegetables, or more permanent planter box or container plantings of trees and shrubs.

My ninebark is the species. It grows to about 8 or 9 feet. It's just finished blooming, and while most of the fruit capsules are brown, I have some individuals whose capsules turn red and stay red all summer. Very pretty. Chokeberry is Aronia. I have mostly A. melanocarpa, because I can buy it. Slow growing, but pretty. Coralberry is not the same as snowberry. Same genus, different species. Snowberry is much taller (up to about 4 feet) and doesn't sent out runners. Coralberry stays maybe 2-3 feet tall and sends out long runners in all directions that root. It's good for my islands because it fills in quickly. I plant shrubs very close together--a foot or so. I want the islands to look crowded, and they do after a year or so. I'll try to post some pictures. Most species shrubs do have white flowers. If you're going to go natural, you start to think in terms of what the pollinators like, and they obviously are attracted to clusters of white flowers. I think it's fascinating that the second each species finishes blooming another takes up the slack. It seems to be timed so they don't compete for pollinators--first serviceberry, then crabapples & C. florida, then chokecherry and chokeberry and black cherry, then ninebark, then early viburnums, then shrub dogwood, then later viburnums, then elderberry. I find it fascinating, and I no longer get tired of white flowers.

boxer, thanks, those pics are very helpful. Bleeker looks just like what I have on my walls now (in the day, -- the "good" time of day for it.) susan, that sounds really promising because peach is one of my colors and I was secretly hoping for a peachy tan. mythreesons -- thank you soooo much! I just ordered a Capistrano corbel. A million thanks for going the extra mile and contacting your cabinetmaker. Can't wait to go out and get all these paints, and after all this wonderful help, I can see I'm going to have to finally learn how to post photos in case anyone wants to see the results.

When we moved into our 1960’s bungalow, it had many rooms with “bold” accent walls. These served to make the rooms dark and closed in. We repainted the entire main floor with BM Cloud White (which has a creamy tone to it). Baseboards and trim plus the kitchen cabinets were done in BM Chantilly Lace (which is a brighter white.) The floors and interior doors are birch hardwood with a lot of colour variation. The transformation was stunning. The consistency of birch floors and white walls on the entire main floor gave the space a light, airy feel. The white looks different depending on which room you are in and where the light is coming from. I can’t say enough good things about all white walls. I would do it over again in a heart beat.