Combining Vegetables in a Planter

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The Essentials of Container Gardening

When you grow vegetables in pots or planters you can combine different vegetables to look good together. You can even throw in some flowers. Here are some good favorite container vegetable combinations:

• Mixed leaf-lettuce varieties: All the different reds, greens, and purples form a soft, textured kaleidoscope of colors. You can sow premixed seeds, but using transplants lets you space them evenly for a more structured look.

  
  



• Cool season masterpiece: In a half barrel, place one or two red Swiss chard plants in the middle, and then surround them with red and green leaf lettuce, a few parsley plants, and some white pansies.

  
  



• A salad bowl: Plant some different lettuces or other greens with parsley, chives, green onions, and other herbs. If you really want to get fancy, add some edible flowers like pansies and violas.

  
  



• Tomatoes and herbs: Plant one of the smaller tomato varieties, like 'Patio', in the middle of a large pot. Surround it with basil or thyme, and mix in several dwarf yellow marigolds (which are edible flowers).

  
  



• Cabbage and kale: A large pot works best with these vegetables. Just mix red and green cabbage with some crinkly kale. Keep the older leaves trimmed so that the arrangement looks nice and clean. If you really want a knock-out display, plant some red tulip bulbs about 4 inches deep in the soil.

  
  

Using your imagination, you should be able to come up with plenty more possibilities. But do you want one more for the road? Try planting rhubarb in a pot; the big leaves and colorful stems are stunning.

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