This Week at the Farm: Container Gardening – Tomatoes, Peppers and More AND the Lone Star Kiwi

This Week at the Farm: Container Gardening – Tomatoes, Peppers and More and the Lone Star Kiwi

It’s not too early to start planting tomatoes and peppers for the container gardener, as you will be able to protect the tender plants during any future cold snaps! We have several varieties available including the stunning Green Zebra slicing tomato. This beautiful specimen is bold with its lime green stripes. The tomato is tangy and fantastic salads. The Green Zebra offers a long productive season. Or try the Speckled Roman plum tomato, it will provide you a vibrant, sweet tomato great for salads and their meatiness is excellent for sauces. Do you love snacking tomatoes? The Sweet Million cherry tomato is fantastically easy to grow. This sweet variety grows on long clusters with better crack resistance. The pepper plants are just about ready and man are they looking superb. Some of the first plants to be available will be the King Arthur bell pepper. This pepper is a wonderful pepper with thick walls – great for stuffing! The California Wonder Orange bell pepper changes from green to a fiery orange red and is a nice splash of color to add into salads, and is delicious grilled. Marconi Golden peppers are an oblong, tapered, sweet pepper which changes from green to a lovely golden color. No matter how you like them this fruit is great eating fresh, grilled, or stuffed. 

Geraniums are beautiful in containers. The geranium is magnificent on its own providing a showy classic display of color and the deep toned ornamental leaves contrast so wonderfully with the brilliant colors of the flower. Paired with alyssum or lobelia the arrangement takes on a softer attitude.  

Gerbera Daisies are cheerful and bright and look nice paired with the chartreuse green of golden moneywart. Add in some spiked foliage for a fantastic show. Gerberas are so vivid a box of Crayolas® would be jealous!

A couple of great ‘spillers’ for containers are variegated periwinkle and calibrachoa or million bells. Variegated periwinkle is an amazing spiller. This tough plant will last all season long while providing a gentle, easy-going characteristic that pairs well with numerous companions. A true container arrangement staple. Million Bells gives containers a lovely show of color all season long, and butterflies love it! Million bells is a long lasting choice and will look extraordinary grown on its own. Numerous shades are available including white, yellow, purple and pink.

Love kiwi fruit? Many of us do and the Lone Star Kiwi is a great variety to begin with. The lone star kiwi is an A. arguta variety which is known to be hardier than the A. delicious varieties (the fuzzy versions found in grocery stores). The lone star kiwi was found in Panama City, Florida and is self-fertile, however, it may produce more fruit if planted along a male arguta. The lone star kiwi is a sweeter smooth skinned fruit which ripens from August to October. No need to peel these little guys, just pop them in your mouth like grapes! For more information about our different kiwi varieties be sure to check out our website at: https://justfruitsandexotics.com/product-category/berry-plants/kiwi/.