Re: San Francisco area gardeners question

**t* <t*@gmail.com>**

I'm in the bay area, and I have dozens of echinaceas (purple cone flowers)
blooming in 5-gallon containers. I grew them all from 6-packs and garden
volunteers. They're doing better than I expected -- I had to move a garden
and "temporarily" potted them up, and it's been less than a year. A
miniature rose in a 4g is doing well. Irises. Alstroemeria.

I grow a lot of bulbs in containers: freesia, daffodil, crocus, species
tulip, brodiaea.

Many California natives don't like to be in 5g containers unless their
roots can escape into the soil, but a few can do ok. My hummingbird sage
flourishes in small pots if its roots have access to the ground, but
declined in a big pot placed on hardscape. I have a native penstemon and
bee plant (Scrophularia) that are thriving in 5g containers. An Eriogonum
parvifolium is doing well -- almost all the leaves dried out when I dug it
up, but a couple months later it's fully green again. Other native
buckwheats tolerate containers, but stay fairly small. Some wildflowers can
grow in containers, but in my experience they are shorter lived than in the
ground.

Many succulents can grow in containers. I've grown smaller ones in small
containers, from 6-inch to 1g colander size.

I have a bunch of blueberry plants in larger-than-5g containers; they can
start out in 5g but need something larger than 5g as they grow.
Strawberries do better for me in containers than in the ground.

I've grown small hot peppers in 1g-2g containers and other peppers in 5g.
Eggplants like warm roots, so they often do better in containers than in
the ground. Any of the microgreens or lettuces can grow in shallower
containers. I've gotten smaller yields from potatoes and tomatoes in
containers than in the ground, but they still grow. Many herbs can grow in
containers. Celery grows ok.

Depending on the weather, some containers will need to be watered every day
or two. Since the buckets don't have holes yet, your friend should consider
making self-watering containers.

Tanya Kucak
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