“March was an unpredictable month, when it was never clear what might happen. Warm days raised hopes until ice and grey skies shut over the town again.” Tracy Chevalier. “In March the soft rains continued, and each storm waited courteously until its predecessor sunk beneath the ground.” John Steinbeck. “To welcome her the Spring breath’s forth Elysian sweets; March strews the Earth With violets and posies.” Edmund Waller. “An estimated one million of the nearly eight million species on our planet face extinction due to what we do, our human activity. As we step up action to tackle the biodiversity crisis, partnerships for wildlife conservation will be critical.” Inger Andersen.

Continue to enjoy a beautiful, beneficial garden when renting or leasing your home using portable plants. Yes, continue to enjoy a lush, lovely garden—keeping your landlord happy—with portable plants and planters. 

Whether you’re looking for highly decorative pots to add color and interest to your garden, sleek, modern containers that let your plants shine, or classic terra cotta pots to fill with your favorite herbs, you’ll find hundreds of options to suit your taste, space, and plants’ needs. For a high-quality, long-lasting container that’s good for the environment, consider Crescent Too® Circular Positive™ Planter Collection. Created with climate-positive material upcycled from landfill waste, these new containers feature classic Emma design planters and TruDrop Flex self-watering systems. The collection promotes sustainability while minimizing waste, perfect for growing a gorgeous garden in any space.

If you’d like to put a little privacy between you and your neighbors, consider the TruDrop Slat Self-Watering Containers From creating a vertical screen with upright evergreen shrubs to covering an added trellis with vining blooms, these containers make an elegant display when creating a private outdoor retreat. Not only do they feature the TruDrop self-watering feature, but the containers are food-safe—perfect for growing a hedge of blueberry bushes or lining your patio with towering tomatoes to harvest all summer. Or perhaps you yearn for a beautiful rose garden like your grandmother grew. Start collecting your favorite roses now by planting them in pots, and enjoy the sweet scent on your sunny balcony or patio—and continue to add to your collection wherever you move.

For an inexpensive, easy-to-install, highly portable, and reusable container, try a GrowTub. Made from non-woven geotextiles, the flexible container works well anywhere you want to grow. Ideal for growing edibles, it’s available in a wide variety of sizes. Choose a deep option for growing tall plants, like tomatoes, peas, and beans, or a shallow version for lettuce, kale, and edible flowers, like nasturtium. While it’s easy to move the entire container full of plants, it also folds flat for storage between seasons.

To create a pretty, cohesive look in your garden space, consider consistency. Choose one style of container in a variety of sizes, grouping them to create an aesthetically pleasing patio, balcony, or garden space. Or use different styles of containers but in the same color. Too many differently colored containers in varying sizes can create a chaotic, instead of calming, garden.

Next, pick a perfect place. While some plants, like caladium and hellebores, grow well in the shade, most flowering and fruiting plants need full sun for peak performance. Take a look at your outdoor spaces, and try to find the sunniest places possible, particularly if you want to grow beautiful blooms or abundant harvests of food. Don’t despair if your balcony or patio sports shade—just look for plants that tolerate less sun. Hostas, begonias, coleus, impatiens, and many leafy green veggies, like lettuce, perform perfectly in part-sun to shade.

Fill your containers with high-quality potting mix, not garden soil. You’ll want a rich, well-draining mix that supports healthy plant growth. Make sure to feed your plants throughout the growing season with a fertilizer appropriate for their needs. Because nutrients leach out of the soil during frequent container watering, good plant food helps replace needed nutrients for healthy plant growth. Find quality products when you shop.

Select your favorite plants for your portable garden. Now, for the best part: what plants will you pick? Choosing plants for your garden is such a pleasure—and a purely personal decision. Maybe you love the instant splash of color from impatiens. Perhaps you long for romantic blooms filled with fragrance. Maybe you want to grow enough food to feed your family. Whatever you choose, make sure to understand the plants’ growing needs—soil, sun, water, hardiness zone—so you can create and enjoy a delightful display of flowers, foliage, and food.

Choose a mix of plants to extend interest throughout the growing season: early spring blooms, long-lasting summer perennials, bright annuals for late summer color, and vibrant fall foliage.

This fact sheet is provided as an educational service of the National Garden Bureau (www.ngb.org/portable-plants).

“A person of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother or sister.” Proverbs 18:24. “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him!” Isaiah 30:18. “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:24-25. “Your right hand, O Lord, was majestic in power. Your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy.” Exodus 15:6. “The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever — do not abandon the works of your hands.” Psalm 138:8.

Eddie Seagle is a Sustainability Verifier, Golf Environment Organization (Scotland), Agronomist and Horticulturalist, CSI: Seagle (Consulting Services International) LLC, Professor Emeritus and Honorary Alumnus (Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College), Distinguished Professor for Teaching and Learning (University System of Georgia) and Short Term Missionary (Heritage Church, Moultrie). Direct inquiries to csi_seagle@yahoo.com.