Planting What You Enjoy Most: The Themed Container Garden

When planning your garden and making plant selections, you can go with a broad mix of what brings you joy, including edibles, flowers, aromatics, pollinator attractors, mosquito-repelling, etc. When looking for a more focused approach, using a garden theme as your guide can help minimize the likelihood of waste, while still allowing you to satisfy a variety of your senses and likes.

Before you make your selections, be sure to verify your growing/hardiness zone and check whether or when it is appropriate to sow or transplant your plant selections. Seed packets and seedling labels often list recommended hardiness zones and/or timeframe for sowing or transplanting. Also be sure to consult our Planting Guide, as well as our Garden Toolkit recommendations to ensure you have the necessary covers and other supplies to protect your plants until they are established, and over the course of the growing season.

The Pizza Garden

Plants You May Include:

• Roma/plum tomatoes (determinate or patio variety)
• Other vegetables: Bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower
• Herbs: Basil, thyme, parsley, oregano, rosemary

The Taco Garden

Plants You May Include:

• Roma/plum tomatoes (determinate or patio variety)
• Other vegetables: Chili peppers, bell peppers, corn (dwarf or container varieties), cabbage, green onion
• Herbs: Cilantro, oregano
• Fruit Trees: Lime, avocado; Click here for more information

The Cocktail Garden

Plants You May Include:

• Fruits/Vegetables: Berries, potted lemon/lime tree, tomatoes, chili peppers
• Herbs: Mint, basil, lavender, rosemary, thyme, lemon balm or lemon verbena, lemongrass, bee balm, borage, nasturtium, peonies
• Flowers: Pansies/viola, rose, marigolds (signet variety), squash blooms, hibiscus
• **Do your research to be clear on which parts of the above are edible and how to process them**

The Tea Garden

Plants You May Include:

Herbs/Flowers: Mint, chamomile, lemon balm, lemongrass, lemon verbena, Echinacea (coneflower), lavender, yarrow, ginger, basil, feverfew, calendula, hibiscus, rose, dandelion, rose hip, thyme, rosemary, bee balm, sage, stevia

*Tip – Research your herbs to determine which parts of the plants are best for tea, as well as whether best consumed fresh or dried

More Information

For other themed garden ideas, click here.

Good luck with your garden grind this summer. Please like our Facebook page to get updates on the progression of our garden, for timely reminders and pointers, and to share and connect with other gardeners.

Read our Becoming the Solution post for pointers on how to preserve and process your harvests, as well as ways to minimize garden waste. Enjoy the journey!