How cold does your unheated garage get would you say?--As you say, concern is NOT with the snow or sleet but cold temps for containerized plants. I overwinter my containerized 'cold' and 'subtropicals' in a cold (40-60F) but frost free garage (glass windows/doors on the front face due south so there's quite a bit of sun). If your garage is just as cold as outside, I would put them in that protected NE exposure you described but bury the pots in a bed of mulch. By the way, I grow the Dwarf English Box and it makes for one absolutely gorgeous formal hedge--good luck with that knot garden! PS., Attached is a pic taken from back window of the storm that "missed" us (we ended up with six inches of snow.) Here is a link that might be useful:

Well given your list of things here is what I would do. 1) I don't think you'll have enough of the potting mix to fill all your pots even though they are relatively small and personally I don't care to use compost in containers as it doesn't drain as well. But I guess you'll have to in order to stretch the mix. So mix the MG and the compost together well and fill up to 1" from the top as many of the pots as you can. You may only have enough to fill 4 pots. Wet it well, compress it gently, and add more mix if needed. Mix into each pot 1 cup of the EB Stone SureStart fertilizer. Mix it in well and plant 1 plant in each pot. Plant it deeply. 2) You don't mention the variety names so I don't know if they are indet. or det. varieties so you will just have to add stakes or support for them as needed. For that size pot I hope they are determinate varieties. 3) I don't see a liquid fertilizer - at least none I recognize - on your list except for the fish oil but some is needed so use that. Once a week when you water the plants include a 1/2 strength dose of it. Nutrients leach out of the pot every time you water so they have to be replaced regularly. 4) AVOID OVER-WATERING. Get used to sticking your finger deep into the soil to see if it is cool and damp. If it is don't water. As the plants grow and the weather gets hotter they wlll need increased watering, sometimes 2 or 3 times a day in such small containers, but the tendency is to water too much so take care. 5) Use the Thuricide (BT-K) for any hornworms or caterpillars you see on the plants but only IF you see them. Use the Capt. Jacks per label directions for any other pests. But FIRST make sure they really are a pest. Just because you see a bug on the plant doesn't automatically mean you have to spray something. Watch it, see if it is alone or has friends, is it just passing through or staying to eat, and what is it eating the leaves, the fruit or the bad bugs. :) 6) Use the FungOil and or the Seranade for any fungus diseases IF they develop. At first sign use it regularly as neither works well as a preventative but will slow it down. If you avoid hosing down the plant (water at the soil level only) and make sure it has good air circulation around it you can reduce the odds of getting Early Blight or Septoria the 2 most common. 7) After the plant sets its first fruit do a side dressing using the Master Nursery Tomato/Vegetable Food 5-10-10 or the Tomato Tone. Lay a 2" wide band of it (about 1 cup full) in a circle around the inside rim of the pot and work it gently into the top 3-4" of the soil. Repeat that 6 weeks later. After that the weekly dose of fish oil should be enough. Please know up front that this is far from ideal but based on the info you have provided it should work fairly well IMO. Dave

I'm growing some ground cherries now (raised them from seed, they look great!), and we just planted two plants in a 5 gallon container. I imagine they will be a bit crowded, but regardless I think a 5 gal bucket or pot would be plenty big for a single plant. The ones I just transplanted did not have very extensive roots, even though the plants themselves look to be very healthy and they seem to be fairly mature already. Cape goosberries are probably a little bigger than these ground cherries, but still I imagine 5 gallons would be enough for one plant, perhaps more than it needs, as long as it gets nutrition and water.

I use 3/4" PVC frames for my big Gardeners Supply containers and Earthboxes (do a search on the NancySil tomato cages)..... for smaller containers, including the 5 gallon ones, I use the frames that Burpee sells. I drill 4 holes at the compass points in the container, and then use plastic ties to affix the frames to the bucket. If they grow real tall, I use another frame on top. if the whole mess gets unstable (and with our hurricane winds here that is pretty common) I take a metal fencepost from Lowes of 3-4 feet, drive it WAYYYY into the ground, and then plastic tie the bucket/cage structure to it. this works pretty well, and I have never lost a bucket. Michael in Hampstead, NC