GMG's Friday Find: Take the Guesswork Out and Put the Plants In!

Looking at your empty containers wondering what to plant this year?

Photo by Shawna Coronado

Rather than being discouraged or confused, think of your container as a blank canvas that by mid-summer can be filled to the brim with colorful flowers or delicious fruits and vegetables.

Not the artistic type? Then take advantage of a garden center workshop near you for inspiration and know-how and quickly learn the dos and don'ts for a successful garden and stunning containers.

Photo by Shawna Coronado

For example, Schaefer Greenhouses in Aurora, Illinois, is a hosting a workshop with garden and lifestyle writer, Shawna Coronado, TOMORROW, April 27th from 10:30-2:30.  Shawna can help you turn your flower/veggie vision into reality.

In Shawna's workshop, gardeners will learn:

• How to make a pizza container garden
• Techniques for creating drought tolerant organic vegetable gardens
• How to utilize the color wheel to create eye-popping color combinations of flowers and plants
• How to identify which vegetables are best to grow in containers
• About companion planting
• What growing mix is best to use that provides continual nourishment and a healthy environment, like PRO-MIX which has patented Myco-Active plant food and water-saving gel right in the mix.

Wait, a pizza container you say?  Shawna will teach gardeners which herbs are best for your individual pizza taste and how to grow them.  But the best thing about this container is that children love to participate and they can be the 'farmer' who plants and waters these plants.  Teaching them the joy and satisfaction of watching plants grow and then creating a delicious recipe from them is invaluable. 

And one of the best advantages in participating in a workshop is leaving with everything you need to get started on your way to a season of plenty, from beautiful flowers to the freshest herbs and veggies; and maybe, if you're lucky, you can walk away with a demonstration container!  Now that's a few hours well spent.  Look for workshops in your area and take the guesswork out and put the flowers and veggies in!

You'll soon learn that there's not much you can't grow in a container.  Happy Gardening!

~Peggy

Stump Stacey, Martha Stewart Living garden editor, on #GardenChat tonight

When I first started working in the lawn and garden industry, one of the overriding characteristics of the gardening world were the number of ladies and gentlemen who work in it. Nice people and gardening seem to just go hand-in-hand.

And tonight, you get to chat live on #GardenChat on twitter with one of the nicest and most knowledgeable people in the business, Stacey Hirvela, senior associate garden editor at Martha Stewart Living and host of At Home in the Garden on MarthaStewart.com. The two met at the Costa Farms Social Summit a few weeks ago. (Stacey is pictured with our GMG Stacey here.)

And Stacey will be giving away my favorite soil -- Organic Mechanics. It's the caviar of soilless mixes.

Stacey's love of plants began with her grandmother, who always let her pick as many lilies of the valley as she wanted. In 1999 she attend the School of Professional Horticulture at the New York Botanical Garden.

After working as a rooftop gardener in Manhattan, she served as the horticulturist at Tavern on the Green restaurant for three years - only the second woman ever to hold the position. WOW!

Then Stacey found her home. In 2005 she joined the Martha Stewart Living staff and now works with out good friend Tony Bielaczyc planning the garden content for the magazine. And we think she does a great job sharing her knowledge and stories from the garden.

So be sure to tune in to#GardenChat on Twitter.com tonight and ask Stacey some really tough questions. I bet you won't stump her though.

Suzi, Garden Media Group