From Booklist
Frustrated container gardeners, rejoice! Ouellet offers not just one, but one-hundred-and-one foolproof recipes for successfully creating stunning container gardens to rival any seen in nurseries or coveted on the neighbor's deck. From clay to concrete, stone to Styrofoam, no matter what sort of container, Ouellet demonstrates eye-catching displays for each medium. Logically delineating the precise procedures needed to assemble colorful designs, Ouellet takes the mystique out of mastering a horticultural art form many otherwise proficient gardeners find daunting. After covering the basic cultural requirements, Ouellet outlines 80 plant species both commonly and infrequently used in container creations. Each profile provides the pertinent factual data plus relevant descriptive information helpful for making informed choices. At the heart of the book are Ouellet's 101 detailed planting diagrams, which readers can reproduce as shown or use as inspiration for their own designs. With simple step-by-step instructions and thoughtful background rationale for design development, Ouellet makes it possible for even first-time container gardeners to create dazzling potted displays. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Ornamental Outlook
"Full of creative, original designs."

Seattle Post June 5, 2003
"If you’re a plant nut on the cutting edge . . . you’ll hardly be able to contain yourself."

Sunset Magazine, August 2003
"Photographs, a useful list of colorful plant choices, and planting plans."

Garden Compass
"Ouellet set about to create an ‘indispensible resource in making your container garden dreams come true’ . . . [she] surely achieves [this]."

Pacific Coast Nurseryman & Garden Supply Dealer
"Brimming with brand new designs that go beyond the ordinary."

Garden Center Merchandising & Management
"This will be great for consumers to follow the exact recipe and be thrilled to create their own . . . container garden."

The Patriot News
"Plan your best flower pots . . . with this book that contains dozens of container ‘recipes."

Book Description
Covering an array of the most beautiful ornamental grasses, perennials, and annuals ever put in window boxes, baskets, pots, and urns, this full-color guide provides basic container gardening designs as well as detailed information and suggestions for plant possibilities. Eighty plants are profiled with photographs and information on height, light requirements, frost hardiness zone, flowering time, habits, and characteristics. Diagrams and detailed instructions for re-creating 90 designs are complemented by information on container characteristics, care clues, and plant personalities. Attention is given to plants recently introduced to the market.

About the Author
Kerstin P. Ouellet is the president of Pen & Petal Inc., a horticulture marketing firm. She is the author of The EuroAmerican Container Garden Cookbook. She lives in Fallbrook, California.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

While containers have been popular in Europe for decades, only recently have North Americans come to appreciate this versatile form of gardening. Pots, urns, window boxes, and hanging baskets let you put color where you'd only dreamed of -- on the deck, front porch, poolside, and along upper-story windows and balconies. Designing and creating beautiful, unique containers for your home is easy with the 101 "recipes" and ideas in Contain Yourself. Kerstin offers designs that go beyond the ordinary annuals: New plant introductions, tender perennials, and even ornamental grasses will make your arrangements stand out from the crowd.

SYNOPSIS

A peppy beginners' guide to creating colorful container plantings, beginning with an introduction addressing design principles and cultivation information on containers, followed by some 80 profiles of plants with color photographs. The final section is "paint-by-numbers"-style, with 101 container ideas: each includes a diagram showing plant placement, a list of exact plants used, cultivation and situational requirements, and a color photograph of the finished pot. As in many gardening resources, the USDA zone information—though drawn from the breeding companies—leans toward the conservative (and thus could do a disservice to novice gardeners who might hesitate to take a risk). A couple of the otherwise decent color photographs are blurry but will be corrected in later printings. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

FROM THE CRITICS

Ornamental Outlook

Full of creative, original designs.

Library Journal

Garden writer Ouellet lives in California but was raised in Germany, where she helped her mother compete in their village's annual window box contest. Here, she draws on her European heritage to discuss designing, planting, and caring for container gardens. Part 1 introduces the basics of container gardening, while an alphabetical listing of the annuals, perennials, and grasses she uses in her designs make up Part 2 of her guide. Arranged by genus, each entry includes a color photo and a description. Part 3 showcases 101 container gardens, including hanging baskets, each illustrated by a color photo and a diagram showing the placement of the plants. Ouellet details her thoughts on how the plants in the design complement one another and offers substitutions if the suggested plants aren't readily available. She also explains how she chose the particular container and how to care for the finished product. The arrangements are lush, beautiful, and imaginative. What's more, they can be used by both beginners (who can follow the designs exactly) and more experienced gardeners (who can tweak the designs to suit themselves), making this a wonderful addition to most gardening collections. Also consider Bill Marken's Container Gardening for Dummies, which includes expanded cultural information and covers additional types of container gardens.-Sue O'Brien, Downers Grove P.L., IL Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Sunset Magazine

Photographs, a useful list of colorful plant choices, and planting plans.

Garden Compass