Editorial Reviews

Book Description:
With few exceptions-such as corn and pumpkins-everything edible that’s grown in a traditional garden can be raised in a container. And with only one exception-watering-container gardening is a whole lot easier. Beginning with the down-to-earth basics of soil, sun and water, fertilizer, seeds and propagation, The Bountiful Container is an extraordinarily complete, plant-by-plant guide.

Written by two seasoned container gardeners and writers, The Bountiful Container covers Vegetables-not just tomatoes (17 varieties) and peppers (19 varieties), butharicots verts, fava beans, Thumbelina carrots, Chioggia beets, and sugarsnap peas. Herbs, from basil to thyme, and including bay leaves, fennel, and saffron crocus. Edible Flowers, such as begonias, calendula, pansies, violets, and roses. And perhaps most surprising, Fruits, including apples, peaches, Meyer lemons, blueberries, currants, and figs-yes, even in the colder parts of the country. (Another benefit of container gardening: You can bring the less hardy perennials in over the winter.) There are theme gardens (an Italian cook’s garden, a Four Seasons garden), lists of sources, and dozens of sidebars on everything from how to be a human honeybee to seeds that are All America Selections.

Customer Reviews

BUY IT! by M Beck
Seriously: BUY IT!

If you are interested in container gardening this book will be a godsend!

It has tons of ideas, tons of suggestions, tons of planting configurations. There’s something for everyone and will get you moving even if you’ve never planted or grown a single thing before.

My children and I have had SO much fun planting our miniature “gardens” and have reaped the benefit for 2 years now. We’re already ordering this year’s produce and can’t wait!

From blueberries and strawberries to potatoes and onions to peppers and tomatoes (even citrus trees!) THIS BOOK HAS IT ALL!!!

A true reference by Buceri
Nicely organized. Easy to read. Don’t be intimidated by the 400+ pages. The book is divided into the first 4 or 5 chapters where general gardening topics are discussed (containers, soil mixes, zones, temperatures, seasons, etc), and the rest of the book (over 50%) where every popular veggie, fruit, herb, and edible flower is given at least 2 pages of detailed “how to”. This allows you to jump to your interest crop.

All in all, a wonderful book; next edition add a few pictures or diagrams.

Sweet by Good Eatin Lil
Good book..Very comprehensive. Filled with great ideas for container gardening. I liked it!

Well worth the price by SDCM
There’s an endless list of titles devoted to container gardening, but it turns out that not many are useful for growing vegetables. I borrowed several from the library, including Bountiful Container, and this is the only one I found useful. It’s a valuable reference tool, so I’ll be getting my own copy.

I have never gardened before; my parents and grandparents had gardens as I grew up, which convinced me that I don’t have the patience to go out and dig a big plot, then spend hours weeding it. In addition, we live in a condo with a small yard, so containers seemed to be the way to go, if only I could figure out how to successfully coax veggies from a container. Still, nobody I knew had really done this, so I found the book invaluable.

A lot of it may be old news to experienced gardeners, but as a beginner, it was extremely helpful to read what conditions each type of plant liked. There are some notes on design, as well as some great suggestions for themed gardens - I particularly liked the idea of attracting hummingbirds with a vibrant red garden. The book is well organized, with several pages devoted to the planting, care, and harvesting of each plant.

I knocked the book down 1 star because I think a few things should really be added. First, some color photos or illustrations. A previous reviewer mentioned that the illustrations are charming but lacking, and I agree. Second, further information about crops that can be planted twice - I know several cool weather plants can be put in for both spring and fall, which the book also mentions. The book walks through the spring planting, but then doesn’t discuss the timing of the fall planting. If I have limited space for growing veggies, I really want to plant as much as I can in cycles, and it’d be helpful to have that information! Finally, some sort of chart that groups together plants which like the same conditions would be an extremely helpful addition to this book. You can get by with notes, but a chart would be a great reference tool.

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