There is a new trend coming around these days and that is gardening in containers. There are all kinds of containers for flowers, veggies and, yes, even plastic flowers (but those are for Eskimos). There are containers for the porch, deck, patio, fence, patio railings, posts and windows, just to mention a few. There are terracotta, plastic, fiberglass, resin-covered foam, wood, cement, wire and cocoa fibers, wheelbarrows, wagons, trash cans, hypertufa (an artificial stone recipe you can easily make yourself) and just about anything that will hold a potting soil.

There are so many different containers to choose from nowadays. So, how do you choose the best container to use?

First off, you need to decide the type of container you want and where you are going to use it. When considering location, consider the reflective heat coming off the cement sidewalk, patio or porch — if that's where you plan to set your container — that would not be coming off of a wood deck.

Then, choose on the container shape, color and other "visual" details. You will also need to consider how you are going to water them. From there you choose plants based upon their suitability for your container such as what their mature size will be, whether they need sun or shade, whether the plant — and container — can make it outside all winter or if it needs to be moved, and if the planter will be permanently placed.

As a general rule, plants in pots of any kind have a tendency to dry out very quickly. In the hot midday sun of summer — with our winds — you may have to water twice a day to keep your plants alive and growing properly. You do not want a metal pot for your patio in full sun because it will bake the plants well done regardless even if it was swimming in water. The soil will get tremendously hot and so will the plant(s).

On the other hand, a wooden container like an old whiskey barrel would work just fine since wood is an insulator against heat. I am not a real fan of using the barrels but there are many other wooden containers that are round, square and trough-like. If you have a metal container you love then set a wood container inside of it to add that layer of insulation against the summer heat. By doing this "double potting" you will create good growing conditions for your plants.

Fiberglass pots are next down the heat ladder and then plastic and then fiberglass-covered foam pots providing the best protection for hot sunny locations. Also, synthetic resin and foam pots will also stay cooler so your soil won't dry out as fast. There are numerous combinations of pots and pots inside of pots that, when used together, will provide better protection — and thus, better growing conditions, for your container plants.

The main thing to remember is the location (exposure), heat, wind, watering, and, of course, the plant or plants themselves.

On my patio, I have an old cast iron kettle that, in its heyday, was used to wash clothes. It's now a pot for some shady plants like caladiums, coleus, impatiens and Persian shield, to mention a few. One summer I put a mandevillia vine in it and let it climb the patio support post.

I use container plants for a focal point or just to soften a cement porch. Containers are also good for visually "breaking up" a long railing or back fence. You can use containers to create a kind of living curtain. Behind your containers put up some posts and attach hog panel to them for a crossvine to grow on at the west end of the patio to create shade.

It just goes on and on with only your imagination to stop you. That is the fun of gardening and conquering a challenge yields much satisfaction.

Now is the time to be planning and thinking ahead of how you can spice up your living space inside and outside with plants in containers. What works espeically well in containers? There are foliage plants, grasses of all colors, grass like plants called cordylines, flax, carex and large tropical plants like elephant ears, bananas, bugmansias and datura, vines of all kinds, perilla, begonias, impatiens, petunias, small shrubs and on and on.

Now I am all excited about spring and this year's plant decor already! So, I'am going shopping and you need to get with the program. Spring is just around the corner so be getting ready for it. Show the neighbors how to do it and it may just catch on all over Ponca City and make it more beautiful than our fair city already is! Happy Gardening