An unlimited variety of containers is available for your garden. These range in size from small house-plant pots to large boxes and planters. Equally variable are the materials from which they are made. These include wood, glass, clay, aluminum, bamboo, straw, plastic, fiberglass, terra cotta, tin, cast iron, zinc, copper, and brass, each with certain advantages and disadvantages. What you select will depend on availability, cost, background, and appeal.

In addition to traditional circular pots and tubs, there are modern and ultra-modern forms square, rectangular, triangular, hexagonal, and octagonal. Also eligible are old iron kitchen pots, kettles, pails, jugs, casks, vases, crocks, jelly tubs, barrels and nail kegs, Japanese fish tubs, old sinks, bathtubs, bamboo soy tubs, and novelties such as driftwood, wheelbarrows, donkey carts, spinning wheels and boxes attached to roadside mail boxes. There are also bird cages, decorative well heads, animal figures, and strawberry jars.

Woven baskets may be used to conceal unattractive containers. Even tar paper pots, handled by nurserymen and florists, are worthwhile if painted or covered to improve their appearance

Search Attics and Cellars
Start with what you have. If you scout cellars or basements, attics, garages, and sheds, you will doubtless encounter something interesting. Old-fashioned pots and kettles, often sold in antique shops at country auctions or seen at old New England inns, have much appeal.

Consider old cookie and bean jars, pickle and other types of crocks, wash tubs, coal pails, jardinieres, and ceramic bowls. For drainage, spread a thick layer of large pebbles or broken pieces of pots or bricks at the bottom and then water plants with care. In large containers of this kind, drainage material should be several inches thick. Where rainfall is heavy, it is advisable to keep containers without drainage outlets on porches or under awnings or the broad eaves of houses. With pails and old galvanized wash tubs, holes can be easily punctured at the bottom.

Plants in containers without drainage openings remain moist longer. Some of these crocks, jardinieres and cookie jars are heavy enough to be secure against wind. Earthy in character, they harmonize with geraniums, ice plants, cacti, and succulents. Yet others iron pots, kettles, and pans do not break and can be painted.

Ideal Container
What constitutes the ideal container? A container must be attractive, even if it is not an object of art. It should be strong and durable and able to resist all kinds of weather. This is especially true of the large sizes, which usually remain outdoors all year around. In the North, alternate freezing and thawing is a problem in winter; in tropical climates, excessive heat, humidity, and moisture are to be considered. And in semiarid areas, there is the effect of scorching sun to keep in mind.

The ideal container must be large enough to hold a substantial amount of soil. It should have good drainage facilities through holes or other openings at the bottom or sides, though this is not absolutely necessary. It must not rust, at least in a single season, and it should have a wide enough base to rest firmly wherever placed. Besides, it ought to be heavy enough to withstand average winds. In severe storms, movable containers can be shifted to temporary safety.

Durability
Resistance to rot is another requirement. Wooden containers except those made of rot-resistant redwood, Western cedar, and Southern red cypress will need to be treated with a wood preservative. Except for permanent containers, movability is another feature of the portable garden. Large boxes and planters can be fitted with wheels, and garden centers have redwood tubs that rest on platforms with wheels. A hole in the platform corresponds to the hole in the tub. Large containers without wheels can be pushed on iron or wooden rollers by two or more persons.

Clay Pots
Common unglazed clay pots make good starters because they are readily available and go well with all kinds of plants. Made of natural clay, they acquire a neutral color with age, even though they are harsh orange-red when new. One gardener gives them a mellow look by dunking them in a tub of manure water. On the other hand, clay pots become dirty with accumulations of white fertilizer salts and mosses, but they are easily cleaned by scrubbing with a stiff brush and sudsy water.

Unglazed clay pots are inexpensive, so you can keep a supply on hand. Since they are easily broken, you must guard them against wind, pulled garden hoses, and dogs. Place them at a safe distance from pedestrian traffic on steps, walks, or other passageways. Stained small pots can be broken into pieces for drainage material. Clay pots vary in size and ornamentation.

The large decorated types, planted with lemons, oranges, and oleanders in Italian villa gardens, are also obtainable in this country.

Porous unglazed clay pots insure good aeration and proper drying out of the soil. Yet they often dry out too quickly, more quickly than glazed or wooden containers. In hot weather, plants may require watering in the morning and again in the evening, especially if they are pot bound.

Actually, clay pots can lose twice as much moisture through their sides as through the soil surface. A properly prepared soil, with humus or other organic material plus a mulch of peat moss or pebbles, will cut the loss of moisture. For cacti and succulents these pots are ideal.

Dry clay pots, painted before they are planted, will be less porous and in some cases more attractive. If different colors are used each year, the container garden will not be dull. Desirable among clay pots are the small Italian types, characterized by simple circular rims. Large Italian pots, decorated richly with garlands, are indeed hand.