Potted Gardens: A Fresh Approach to Container Gardening

Here are some things this book won't do for you: For those wanting a how-to book, there are only six pages on transplanting, pruning, watering, pests, etc. and eight pages on planting in boxes and buckets. For those wanting traditional pots and window boxes, this enthuses about offbeat containers. For anyone wanting a photo book to identify plants for containers, this isn't a plant guide. The author gives her personal experiences junk hunting (for containers), setting up city gardens (on rooftops, in windowboxes), and her relationships with plants. Since I've already read other books for the how-to, the plant selection, and the traditional looking containers, this book was a refreshing change. If you're drawn to the shabby chic style of decorating, you may already have plenty of containers for this style of potted gardening. Brace yourself, the woman hacks holes in the bottom of a fire bucket. The glossy photos open your mind to new uses for old things. Think of morning glories climbing an old iron bed as a trellis or a fern growing in a cake tin. Fill a teapot with ivy, a spice tin with rosemary, then perch them on a rustic step ladder near a sunny window. This is a fun idea book for growing plants in containers.

Rebecca Cole's imagination soars when it comes to potted gardens! I love the way she sees containers in everyday items--including items headed for the trash! Hurray for Rebecca and giving me new vision for my garden.

With two semi-black thumbs and not much of a penchant for backbreaking work in the garden, I was hesitant to try my hand once again at container gardening--even if it would be for one last time. But POTTED GARDENS opened up a whole new world of gardening to me! Rebecca Cole finds unique and often humorous containers everywhere she goes--and now so do I! I see containers in old coffee pots, and buckets, and boxes; in wooden shoes and tin watering cans. You simply need to open your eyes to Ms Cole's vision of what container, terrace, patio, and potted gardens were meant to be. I recommend this book to weekend and serious gardeners alike.

I love this book! I bought it for my mother and aunt as a Christmas present. I first saw it at the library and took notes as I read. It inspired me to think of gardening in a whole new light. The tips are easy to follow and the pictures were amazing. Gardening no longer seemed hard. Instead it became fun!

I eagerly awaited publication of Potted Gardens for more than a year. Preliminary review of the photos showed me the style and apearance this book would take. I was not privy to any of the actual writing. The author, my sister, has written a great book. Certainly, I am a proud brother yet I can unabashedly attest to a tightly written, fact-filled book loaded with advice for starting your own potted gardens.The book starts with a history of the author emerging as an unpretentious gardener. She also describes her penchant for collecting things such as antiques, old containers, and just plain junk. Potted Gardens, the store, and now the book evolved as the marriage of these two passions. The book tease and urges you to dig into the dirt and plant your own garden. Many "how to" sections explain the steps. Advice on buying supplies, on what to plant together, on how to prepare the containers, and even how to develop an eye for the beauty of it all can be found in Rebecca's book.Rebecca Cole and the photographer Richard Felber collaborated to create wonderful photos. The photography will keep the reader coming back for further inspiration. The book is subtitled, "A fresh approach to container gardening." It is that. review by Geoffrey P. Cole,MD