I love reading gardening books, especially during the winter and early spring, when I can imagine great things but don't yet actually have to get out there and do anything. Often a book will have a lot of good information but will be rather patronizing in the sharing of it, or else overwhelming in its scope and instruction. In Continuous Container Gardens, Sara Begg Townsend and Roanne Robbins strike the perfect balance. They have a focused subject, but within that parameter, they offer a wealth of information about plant material and gardening practices. And, while they are clearly knowledgeable professionals, they are also friendly fellow gardeners—and speak as such. It is as much the style of the book as its concept and information that has made it my new favorite.

First, the focus of the book is very appealing. The idea of container gardening is not new, but Roanne and Sara have a new approach to it. Rather than the typical container filled with annuals, which lasts the entire summer, their idea is a more natural looking container garden with plant material that changes with the seasons. As Roanne puts it, "We moved away from the instant gratification of annuals and opted to create a more garden-inspired miniscape." For her, a container garden mirrors and celebrates the seasonal changes happening in the larger garden; in each container, she says, "I am trying to tell a story of nature." The first part of the book discusses the joys of container gardening, how to choose a container and plant material, and how to plant and care for the garden. The last two-thirds of the book give detailed descriptions and extensive photographs of 12 themed container gardens that Sara and Roanne have planted for clients.

Roanne Robbins plants a container garden with chartreuse branches of dogwood, yellow daffodils, and purple pansies. (Courtesy photo)

One of the delights of a four-seasons container garden is that it brings you close to nature and makes you pay attention to its changes. Sara suggests that, "A small garden has the potential to inspire more creativity because it allows the gardener to focus on less and to really perfect it." It offers the capability of doing things one wouldn't do in a regular garden: try out new things, push the seasons, experiment with combining unlikely plants, splurge on a specimen plant, and learn how to prioritize and edit. Another thing a container garden affords is a measure of control over nature. Whether one is a "control freak" or quite the opposite, this ability to be in charge has a certain attraction. With a complex and changing garden along one's daily path, one can experience gardening in a very different way.

Sara and Roanne advise starting with something you love, some quality or characteristic that will keep a visual theme throughout the year. This could be a color, a texture, a woodland feeling, an old-fashioned sense, a structure. Next comes not the choice of container but the selection of the "backbone" planting—the small tree or shrub or ornamental grass that will be central to the garden. Sara and Roanne urge that this be something with appeal in as many seasons as possible. A highbush blueberry, for example, offers spring flower, summer fruit, and fall color. Other "backbones" could be yellowtwig dogwood, magnolia, oakleaf hydrangea, summer-flowering azalea, or conifer. The decision is dictated by the intended location of the container garden and one's personal vision. (I love that Sara and Roanne believe I can have a vision and be trusted to make a good choice!) Most trees and shrubs that form the central planting for a container garden can remain for two or three years and then be put into the regular garden. In the meantime, the gardener will have experimented with a wide variety of complementary plantings.

The next step is choosing the container. That will be determined by the backbone plant and the overall theme of the garden. Then come suggestions for assorted underplantings, to be swapped in and out each season. These include perennials, herbs, mosses—even the annuals maligned above! Cut material, lights, and other embellishments add interest, especially during the winter. Excellent tips are given along the way for what soil to use and how and with what to water. (It's no surprise that Sara and Roanne prefer organic and a can!)

Twelve chapters comprise the second half of the book, each featuring a different themed container garden: "Colorful Sticks," "Very Berried," and "Cool Bark" to name a few. Each chapter starts with a page divided into quadrants, showing the container in four different seasons for year-round interest. Then come full-page photos of the container in each season, accompanied by close-ups of the complementary plant material that goes with each. "The Main Event" is a comprehensive look at the backbone planting for that particular themed container, and a section called "Plant Pallettes" gives a detailed description of each accompanying plant and a list of alternatives to it.

I love the style of the book. Sara and Roanne have a friendly, informal tone, and their enthusiasm for gardening and respect for one another are very appealing. It is clear that in addition to loving plants, the writers love words. In one sidebar Sara and Roanne debate the merits of calling a pot a "vessel" or a "container." There is a playfulness beneath the well-organized and informative text. "Get thee to a nursery," we are told at one point. When speaking of some ordinary garden plants that become stars in a container, the point is made by, "That's you, Mr. Lamb's Ear." We are challenged to say "berry-bearing plant" 10 times fast. We are charmed by the personalities of the plants—one "wants to be grown in part shade' while another is "constantly scheming to take over the lawn," and we are continually urged to "play with" our plants but always to "be nice" to them.

In the case of so many gardening books I find that my enthusiasm for them fades once I step into my real garden and contemplate where to begin. With Continuous Container Gardens, I know exactly where to begin—or I will, once I decide whether I'm doing #1, 5, 7, 8, or maybe 9—I can't wait.

Roanne Robbins will be at the General Store Saturday, April 30, from 4 to 7 p.m. for a container-planting demonstration and to sign copies of her book.