Imagine; it is the middle of winter and outside the wind and snow is blowing hard. The landscape is covered with it's blanket of snow, and the dim light filtering through the clouds is gloomy. But in your living room, it is like a scene out of a tropical paradise! Plants are growing and blooming, the scent of herbs brighten the atmosphere of the room, and fresh vegetables grace the table.

Another scenario; you have a small place such as an apartment, with no yard or flowerbeds, yet you have fresh vegetables, herbs, and flowers that you've grown yourself.

Not only are both of these possible, they are not difficult to accomplish, through container gardening. You don't even need to have a green thumb!

Nearly everyone is aware of people who have houseplants, and while this qualifies as container gardening, we'll take it further here. The benefits far outweigh the difficulties.

First let's look at the term, "container gardening". It is exactly as it sounds, growing plants in pots or other containers. The pots can indeed be outdoors, on a patio, a balcony, or they can be indoors. For someone with garden space, they can be an easy way to increase that garden space, and for the person who has none, or who doesn't have the time to garden conventionally, they can be the only way that they can produce flowers, herbs, or vegetables.

The containers: The containers can be plant pots, window boxes, baskets, aquariums, and almost anything else that allows proper drainage so that the roots of the plant do not end up sitting in water. With the exception of bonsai, the container should be large enough for the adult plants. It wouldn't make a great deal of sense to grow carrots, for instance, in a window box that was only 3 inches deep. On the other hand, it is needless waste to grow a single radish in a 20 inch pot. As always, common sense dictates the need of the plant, and allows a person to act accordingly.

The soil: Store bought potting soil works well for most flowers and many other plants, however a person should keep in mind the type of soil the plant grows in naturally. Cactus grows better in sandy, nutrient poor soil than it does in rich potting mix, Oregano grows better in rocky soil than loamy soil, but tomatoes don't do well in soil that isn't full of plenty of nutrients. If you are going to grow all three of these, then, it would be a good idea to have sandy, rocky, and rich soil to use, and adjust it according to the plant that

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