Plants
How to Grow and Care for Hippeastrum in Containers
Intro: Hippeastrum is a bulb flower often grown in indoor gardens. It is easy to grow and easy to care for, and when taken indoors to overwinter during the cold winter months, it can still bloom indoors. Hippeastrum has large flowers and two to seven long (up to 3 feet) leaves. The flower stem can reach 2.5 feet tall and supports two to 15 large flowers, each being up to 8 inches across. Hippeastrum fowers can be red, pink, white, orange, yellow and green. Some may have multiple colors with stripes or different colored petal edges. The beautiful hippeastrum flowers last for two to three weeks.
Growing the Jacaranda Tree (Jacaranda mimosifolia) in Containers
Jacaranda trees (Jacaranda mimosifolia) are tall blooming trees that cannot grow to maturity in a plant container in a balcony garden. Just like many trees, this tree can be grown in a balcony garden (or even indoors if you have a sunny spot) while it is young. Eventually every Jacaranda in a plant container will need to be transplanted into the ground, so you may have to part with your Jacaranda someday (unless you buy a house with a nice big yard).
How to Grow and Care for Foxgloves in Containers
Intro: The common foxglove plant produces beautiful cascading trumpetlike flowers that range from purple to gray to white. Depending on the species and variety, foxglove flowers can be different colors (yellow, pink, red, etc.) or have spots inside of the blooms. It’s flowers inspired the plant’s genus name Digitalis, meaning fingerlike, and a human finger can fit easily into one of the flowers.
How to Grow and Care for the Sage Plant in Containers
Intro: Sage is a wonderful-smelling herb often used in medicines and in food dishes. Sage is a great addition to an urban kitchen garden for gardeners who like its smell (for a better smell, rub a leaf between your fingers) and who like to cook with sage. Sage’s flowers, which bloom in late spring or summer, are most commonly blue to purple, but some sage varieties can have pink or white flowers.
How to Grow and Care for Tomatoes in Containers
Intro: Tomato plants actually do best when grown in plant containers in kitchen gardens, and even gardeners with yards grow them in containers or even in bags. These plants have a distinctive smell and small, humble yellow flowers. After you’ve picked one of your own tomatoes straight from your balcony's kitchen garden, you’ll never look at a grocery store tomato in the same way again!
