Pools demand some sort of adornment around the edges and although I am not a container person, I do have a couple. These are plastic buckets from the box store last year and I have filled them with some little tomatoes, peppers and a lantana.

The vegetables are from a line of container bred hybrids and they are all doing quite well. I am trying Tumbling Tom, a yellow cherry tomato; Patio Princess, a red tomato and Fairy Tale mini eggplant and all are performing very well. The lantana is from Proven Winners and called Luscious Berry Blend and from a distance, it mimics the tomato colors too.

The tomatoes drape over the side of the containers while the eggplant is a very compact upright plant. Right now the little eggplants are about an inch or so in length, but they will retain the slightly mottled skin tone which makes it very attractive too.

The tomatoes were the earliest to mature and although little cherry tomatoes usually ripen before the full sized tomatoes, the little Patio Princess has also produced some close to full size, very even colored tomatoes. Most of the heirlooms are still growing but there are plenty there and it will be a much better tomato year than last year.

The beans have been a disaster this year – between ground hogs, rabbit and deer the whole garden has been under attack and the beans took the brunt of the assault. Couple the animal attack with some little bug that refuses to show itself yet is skeletonizing the leaves – the harvest has been drastically affected. Maybe fall crops will do better for me this year because the beans will be ripped out as soon as I need the space. Unlike summer crops, the fall crops do not need pollinators so they can spend their time under a light insect/animal cloth. Next year, the area will be surrounded and groundhog/rabbit/deer proof.