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Glad, Gardeners Supply features metal beds in their new catalog. They're shallower than a horse trough. I think one key is to fill with dirt to the top so the plants get good air circulation. I saw a nice tip about filling very large pots, without using loads of soil. You fill the lower half with packing peanuts, then put weed barrier fabric over the peanuts. You put your soil on top of the fabric, which keeps the soil from filling the voids between peanuts. The peanuts take up space and provide for drainage, plus make the pot lighter weight. I have some flower seedlings going in the house, but am way behind on garden prep. Fruit trees are blooming and perennials wildflowers are leafing out.
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Also occurred to me that if they're galvanised metal they might get a bit hot/cold - you could pop in some insulating material before you plant them up.
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Oh my, six! horse troughs! I am so envious! Wow, that is enough container space to plant anything your heart desires. I top up my containers every year with a bit of manure or a good triple mix, then all you need to do is be mindful of keeping everything watered. Add a bit of slow release fertilizer like miracle grow. If you want you can intermix veggies with flowers, pretty and tasty altogether.
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Bob Flowerdew is your man for best use of unconventional containers, Glad. But as long as they've got the depth and the drainage, I think you're right that you can treat them as you would any raised bed. Brilliant for food production, too - it'll be much easier to keep the beasties out of them. Were you thinking ornamental or kitchen?
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I have been missing GA too! I was going to ask for ideas on what to plant in six different size galvanized horse drinking troughs in my yard. They are quite large and an interesting and unusual approach to raised beds.
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Oh, I am sorry to hear GA has left. I liked her knowledge with gardening and will miss her in put. -8, brrrr cold indeed. Crocuses are so pretty.
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GA seems to have left in frustration when the site was undergoing their updates, I don't know if she ever reads here but she hasn't been posting at all.

I noticed a few brave purple crocus blooming this morning, the sun is shining but it was a frosty -8 celcius when I got up. I'm tired of the cold.
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I am sooo excited!!!! My long awaited iris garden is going to bloom this spring. Several flower stems are growing now. A garden of beautiful purple.

Has anyone heard from Garden Artist? I haven't seen any postings from her for some time now.
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I didn't know why ma and aunt liked gardening so much... You cannot really mess things up.. Worse case scenario, noting grows the way you imagained.

I like pulling up weeds after a huge rainfall, and then I like to bury plants... I dig a hold, bury the roots, and tell the plants, it's up to them to survive.....

I found out, I am good at killing plants.... O well.....
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When we move to Idaho, I plan to have planter box gardens for veggies. The backyards there are very big so we could easily have 3-4 standard size planters. I want to go as organic as I can re the food we eat and my dd wants to do the same. We can share our bounty with each other.
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Good for you CM. Unfortunately my mower won't mow snow.
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Yes spring is definitely on its way. Got the mower out and dug over one of the flower beds. Ow. I think my back must have rusted up over the winter.
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I noticed a few of the sweet potatoes in the grocery store were starting to sprout so I grabbed a couple to try to get some slips, I checked first to make sure they were 'product of canada' so they would be a short season variety. Although I haven't had much luck in my earlier attempts I figure I learn a little with each attempt, and I can still eat the potato after I remove the slips so I really can't lose!
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Yes, Spring is arriving!!!
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My snowdrops are just finishing blooming. The loropetulam bushes are bursting out in bloom now, and my Chinese fringe tree is starting to make its lovely fringe. Spring is rapidly on the way.
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The orchids are blooming and I moved the Christmas/Easter cactus to a darker location which has prompted several flower buds forming.
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My snowdrops are blooming :)
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The bouganvillia lives, but is none too happy.
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Don't know who I am anymore, Cwillie, but they kicked me out of the witness protection program, Lol. I love amaryllis, so many planted together looks so pretty. My garden is calling and needs a spring update...maybe tomorrow.
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Hear ya on the "certain scents are headache-causing." Whether it's certain flowering plants or certain perfumes, some work fine for me (and can even be very welcome, like lavender oil and plants), and a few make me feel mildly to very sick. I spritzed a little perfume on last week, 2nd day on the job, I couldn't stop smelling it all day and it was not a good feeling. I came home and threw it in the trash. If I didn't kill every lavender plant I've ever had in record time, I'd get some more of them, try to figure out how to make a good indoor habitat for them. I don't have any faith that I can keep them alive, unfortunately.
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Ha Ha Ha Send... or is that anonymous? We northerners are all just dreaming of gardens, or else making do with what we can grow indoors. I'm excited that my Christmas cactus is actually getting buds and my amaryllis are in spectacular full bloom. At current count I have 19 blooms altogether including 6 all at once on my biggest and oldest bulb!
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How will our gardens grow without GardenArtist?
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Cough.

The gardenia, three heliotropes and a cayenne pepper. There isn't room :P
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Put them in the bathroom and shut the door CM, instant air freshener and plants in the loo are very trendy!
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It is much too cold to put the hyacinths outside, especially now that they've spent four months snuggled up in their compost under cover. I might move them to the spare room and pretend I've put them there to welcome guests - only my cousin's coming to stay next week, and I'm fond of her.

There's also a bowl of very pretty irises which have finished now, and they definitely can't go out because the drawback of this new garden is that from equinox to equinox it seems to get no sun at all. It's quite sheltered - well, there's a socking great cathedral on the north side, for a start - but literally no direct sun, only whatever heat must be bouncing off the walls.

Who do I know who's got a conservatory?
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Oh good Lord, Jingle - I think I'd have been quite a lot *less* polite than that!

On the other hand, what could she do? What could she say? I suppose when you've done something as fat-headed as that, with no way of putting it right really, the only thing to do is brazen it out..?
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CM: Yes, I did too! I thought the only bubbles were the property bubbles that are so prevalent in both (yes! all two!) of our big cities, each on either side of the coast. Now I wonder what other kinds of bubbles there have been in the past -- gum?

Yes, hyacinths can have a very strong scent if you mistakenly plant a boatload of them indoors. When can they go outside? Have you thought of inflicting some of them on someone else, like someone you're not so keen on? I wonder if there has ever been a hyacinth bubble?

Well, I guess there's one in your house. Snort.

Sharyn: I get headaches from some scented candles, depending on the scent. And once I was in a theatre and the person diagonally in front of me was demonstrating some perfume to a friend. Yep, I got the full squirt straight in my face and the smell didn't go away until I got home and washed my hair. I did lean forward to say "You fool!" (well, I was more polite than that) and she just looked at me.
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Cwillie,  I noticed a big bud on my Christmas too. Only one and it will open soon. My orchid has one bloom open and I am sure a couple more will open today.

I get nasty headaches from perfume. I can wear some scented lotions like vanilla scented but others very strong scents gives me headaches. So does scented laundry soap and fabric softeners.
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LOL! Green about the gills from the hyacinth odor? I guess some plants are outdoor plants for a reason. I cannot have lilacs or roses inside as I must have some allergy to them. They always give me a sore throat, many perfumes do too, then it goes into a full blown sinus infection. Took me years to figure that out.
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I always found it comforting to think that they were just as much victims of fashion fads back in the 1600s as we are now - "darling, you absolutely MUST see the marchioness's tulips, they're simply marvellous!" New release iWatch, anyone?

I am a bit green about the gills this morning. I was so proud of myself: potted up my hyacinths back in the autumn and actually remembered to keep an eye on them this year. Overnight, after weeks of anxious watching and strict watering, they've come fully into bloom in my living room.

Turns out I'm really not that keen on the scent of hyacinths in a confined space. Whooo dearie dear...
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