Mary Mary Quit Contrary...

Mary, Mary quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?

With silver bells and cockle shells,

And pretty maids all in a row.

I think of this poem often when I am gardening and if my Mum knew she would grunt and roll her eyes. See my mother, Mary hates this little poem because her name is Mary and children would taunt her with it in school.

So what does this poem have to do with plants, since that is our next subject that I promised to write on? Well, let me give you my version of that little poem:

Mary, Mary quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?

With no clue and no help,

And confusion on what to sow.

When I started container gardening I had no clue what to plant. I went to my local garden center, you know those big warehouse chains that you could get lost in for days, and they had no clue either. The best suggestion I got from a young man who worked there was, "I guess just buy something and see if it grows." Thanks you are a genius, I never thought of that.

I went to my local, well closest Wal-Mart because in a big city like Jacksonville we probably have a good 30 Wal-Marts, anyway I was roaming around and this guy asked me if he could help me. I know shocking and in a Wal-Mart, after I snapped out of my shock of being asked this question in a Wal-Mart, I told him that I wanted to start a container garden, but I just wasn't sure what to start with.

He asked me if I liked to cook, to which I said, "Do I look like I'm starving? Of course, I like to cook." His suggestion to me was to start with herbs. They are easy to grow, you can grow them outside or inside and you can use them year round in your cooking. I could have kissed this guy. I was so happy to finally have some direction on what to grow!! 

From there I branched out to jalapeno plants, then to bell pepper plants and on and on and on. At this time I have on my patio or have grown on my patio: three different kinds of radishes, tomatoes (many varieties), potatoes, cucumbers, yellow squash, beans (many varieties), peas (many varieties), bell peppers, lettuce (many varieties), and two kinds of basil, oregano, cilantro, parsley, Italian flat leaf parsley, chives, thyme and rosemary.

So if you are dazed and confused as to what to start with I would ask myself this question, "What vegetables do I love?" After I wrote those down, I would ask myself, "What vegetables would I enjoy growing?" Now you have your list and you know what directions you are going with it.

Once you decide what you will plant, then you need to decide if you are going to grow from seed or purchase plants. There are some significant advantages and disadvantages to each.

Starting your own seeds is much less expensive than buying seedlings, after some startup cost. If you start your own seeds you can grow hard to find varieties and can also grow your seedlings organically. Plus there are a lot of seeds out there that have been bred to grow in containers now.

However, starting seeds isn’t for everyone. You absolutely cannot let them dry out or they’re toast. Conversely, if you give them too much water, they keel over dead. To avoid this, you can make a self-watering seed starter. To figure out if seed starting is for you, try asking yourself six questions before you start your seeds:

a.    How attentive am I?

b.    How ambitious am I?

c.    Do I have enough natural light or will I need artificial lights?

d.    When is the last frost?

e.    Can I protect my seedlings from frost?

f.     Can I count backwards?

For the answers you can go to: http://containergardening.about.com/od/containersyearround/tp/questionsbeforeseedstarting.htm

I try to work with seeds that are direct sow, which means to plant them in the container they will grow in and not transplant. I grow my own starters for easy seeds like tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, summer squash and cucumbers.

The advantages of purchasing starter plants is well, they are already started (haha, I couldn’t resist). Seriously, though it is nice to just plant-a-plant and you are done. You can get plants fairly cheap, but you need to shop around. At the large garden centers and superstores you can purchase starter plants from $2.98 – $4.98, depending on the size of the plant or you can find your local greenhouse or nursery and purchase there. 

I was so excited to find at the Plant Place on Fort Caroline road that he had all the same plants you can purchase at those other places and he was selling them for $1/plant. You still need to compare prices though because perfect example is sweet potatoes, I could purchase 1 plant for $1 at the nursery or I could purchase a flat of 9 plants for $2.98 at the garden center. Be smart if you are going to do plants. So you are probably thinking, so what are the disadvantages of purchasing starter plants?

Its variety, that’s really all it comes down too. You cannot purchase a large variety of starter plants. Most garden centers, super stores and local nurseries stock the same plants. You have your herbs, your peppers, your tomatoes, your cabbages, and your squashes. That’s about it. Some of you might be saying, “That’s it? That’s plenty.”

I thought so when I first started as well, but really it’s not. You will see. My personal suggestions on what to start with, I would do herbs. They are super easy (most) to grow, then I would move onto peppers (also very easy to grow). Don’t grow peppers that you don’t eat now. I am telling you people tell themselves they want to try a different pepper and “wouldn’t it be great to grow it myself,” then they have a ton of peppers that they have never eaten and do not know what to do with.

Here are some things that are easy to grow: herbs, peas, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, radishes, cucumbers, eggplants and summer squash.

Also, here are 44 things I know you can grow in a container, because I have either done it or have seen someone do it:

FRUITING TREES	1.      Apples can be grown in a container; you can also grow them on the balcony or other small space using a technique called espaliering. 2.      Kumquats 3.      Blackberries 4.      Blueberries 5.      Avocados (plenty of extra tips online if you search) 6.      Pomegranate 7.      Cherries 8.      Figs 9.      Pears
Citrus Fruits	1.      Dwarf Oranges 2.      Grapefruit 3.      Tangerines 4.      Meyer lemons 5.      Limes
Tropical Fruits	1.      Bananas (look for container gardening tops online) 2.      Pineapple 3.      Papaya 4.      Guavas (several varieties)
Vegetables	1.      Tomatoes (all varieties) 2.      Summer squash 3.      Other squashes like acorn and pumpkin 4.      Hot peppers (all varieties) 5.      Sweet Peppers (all varieties) 6.      Cucumbers (Burp less, liberty, early pick, crispy and salty) 7.      Green beans (top crop, green crop, contender, (pole) blue lake, Kentucky wonder and many others) 8.      Zucchini
Melons	1.      Cantaloupe 2.      Jenny Lind melon 3.      Golden midget watermelon
Herbs	1.      Basil (all varieties) 2.      Oregano (all varieties) 3.      Parsley (all varieties) 4.      Rosemary 5.      Chives 6.      Catnip 7.      Thyme 8.      Sage
Leafy Greens	1.      Kale (all varieties) 2.      Mesclun greens 3.      Spinach (Any cultivar) 4.      Swiss chard (all varieties) 5.      Lettuces (plenty of options there, from micro-greens to head to loose-leaf varieties) 6.      Mustard Greens 7.      Collard Greens 8.      Arugula
Root Vegetables	1.      Carrots (Scarlet Nantes, gold nugget, little fingers, baby spike and Thumbelina) 2.      Beets 3.      Potatoes 4.      Green Onions (Beltsville bunching, crysal wax, evergreen bunching) 5.      Bulbing Onions (These take a little more extra efforts, but they can be grown: burgundy, yellow, white, Vidalia) 6.      Radishes (all varieties)
Other healthy-sounding stuff J	1.      Sprouts 2.      Mung bean 3.      Lentil sprouts 4.      Wheatgrass 5.      Kohlrabi 6.      Turnips (any cultivar) 7.      Rutabagas 8.      Celeriac 9.      Parsnips 10.  Jerusalem artichoke 11.  Sugar snap peas 12.  Rhubarb (container growth is not ideal, but it can be done) 13.  Mushrooms 14.  Pole beans 15.  Asparagus 16.  Broccoli (packman, bonanza and others) 17.  Eggplant ( Florida market, black beauty and Long tom as well as many Asian varieties) 18.  Cauliflower

So to end my HUGE entry on plants I want to share with you something I found online. The oldest known version of our poem was first published in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book (c. 1744) with the following lyrics:

Mistress Mary, Quite contrary, How does your garden grow? With Silver Bells, And Cockle Shells, And so my garden grows.

Hope you learned something or were inspired by this blog. Let me know what you think.

Dianna J