A Couple of Field Trips and a Basil Replant

Today, I had the opportunity to visit the garden of some friends of mine, Bob and Susan. They have a large and beautiful outdoor garden, actually several distinct gardens around their house. Their front yard is for looking at, plants and flowers. I'm not good with plant names, but Susan took me around giving me the names. I was particularly interested in some small roses they were growing and I'm wondering how they'd do in a container.

Their backyard has a raised bed where they keep their fruits and vegetables. Their spinach is enviable, lush and green, while mine is still a couple of sticks with a tiny leaf or two. I was even more dismayed with my spinach when Susan told me they started theirs from seeds too. Their romaine was coming up wonderfull like my red sails lettuce, but their broccoli flowered. It looks great, but it's no longer "good eats" as they say.

On the way back home to my container garden, I took a long detour to Pesche's in Des Plaines. It was sort of a pilgrimage as Pesche's has a long history in the area, and an even longer list of plants and gardening paraphernalia. It's sort of like a gardener's candy store.

I meant to get a larger container for my basil as it was outgrowing it's pot. I ended up getting the container plus a few new additions.

The Container

I was looking at either a plastic or another terra cotta container for the basil, but I found something I liked better, a bamboo biodegradable eco-conscious planter. It's lightweight and attractive, and it has a water reservoir. I think the reservoir can be used with some sort of wick to make it like those earthboxes that are self-watering (sort of).



My new bamboo container
for my basil

 I also like the container depth as basil can grow pretty deep roots. I've read that you need 4"-6" of depth for the roots, but last year, my basil seemed to want about 8".

The water reservoir inside the container

The Replant

I replanted the basil this afternoon and was pleased to find that it came out of its original container easily. In the past, I have had situations when the plant is outgrowing its container and the roots stick to the inside.

My newly replanted basil
Next to it, I started a few more
spinach seeds and hoping
for the best.

Common wisdom is that basil should be outside. Not where I live. The Japanese beetles love the taste and find it easily from the smell. They just about killed my basil plant last year. I rescued it by bringing it inside. Unfortunately, I didn't take good care of it and let it dry out. This one I vow to keep well watered and it will never go outside to become beetle chow. However, I do have that great south/southwesterly sun that keeps it warm.