It’s that time of year again, when I get outside and get those containers planted for the summer months. It’s still nice right now and not too hot, but that will change quickly. I love adding colorful annuals to my white planter boxes and it adds such beauty to the patio outside in my backyard. I can’t imagine my summer and outdoors without having some colorful summer plants added to my spaces, can you?
This year, I’m partnering with Ecoscraps® once again and they are sponsoring my containers this season. I introduced you to them last year and love their concept. I looked at their website and really liked what I saw. Two college students noticed how much food was being wasted when they went out to eat and decided to do something about it….by turning it into gardening products.
Since 2010, EcoScraps has been working to be a part of the solution by reusing this waste and keeping it out of the landfills. They want to educate and make sustainability something that’s part of mainstream America. I personally throw way too much stuff away that I can’t eat before it goes bad. That’s the hazards of cooking for one or 2, it’s so hard sometimes to eat it all and use it all before it starts to go to waste. Ecoscraps takes that food waste and makes wonderfully rich garden soil with it.
Sold at Walmart, I would love for you to check out their product line.
So what’s so different about THIS dirt?
The Ecoscraps founders saw a better way to make soil which in turn is better for our gardens and planet. Bad food transformed into rich, organic soils does a lot of good for all of us as families and for the environment.
Instead of all that wasted food going to landfills, it’s going into this rich dirt to organically grow plants and food. that’s a win-win for all!
OK, so why not support a company who does all of this?
Take a look at their video on the process of turning waste into soil!
Getting my 2 big bags of Ecoscraps potting soil from Walmart, I was ready to start planting. Filling up my big containers is a good sized job, but this soil is rich and will hold water and minerals to help support my plants. I’ll share more about my plants in another post, but for now watch me plant them!
I’m adding these pretty colors to 2 other planters out there too.
So, this is how those big containers end up at the end of the season. It all dies back and the plants just sit there after their growing season comes to an end. We all have these sitting around, don’t we, just begging for new plants to be added. But, you have to have new soil added to get the season kicked off with new plants.
Once I take the old mass of roots and dirt out of the container, it all comes out in one big (and heavy) clump. I drug this clump to the edge of my yard in the trees and bushes and eventually it will decay. You simply can’t reuse dirt when the roots are this thick, plus for new plants to thrive it needs rich new dirt in the container.
In goes the new Ecoscraps soil with its rich blackness which will nourish my new plants and they will be ready for growing and putting on lots of new blooms. Yippee for that! I love my blooms!
I added four plants in here for now and may have room for one more, but they do grow and spread out pretty fast, so these will be really gorgeous in a few weeks after they grow and get taller and fuller. I always try to use something tall in the middle, something spilling on one side, and definitely a couple that add lots of color and blooms to the mix. I’ll keep you posted later on how they do this summer!
In the meantime, I’ve got a gift card giveaway for all of you! Ecoscraps is giving away a $50 Walmart gift card so you can try out their potting soil too. I love being able to give away great stuff to all my readers, so this is a win-win for all of us.
All you have to do to win the $50 Walmart card is leave your name and email address on the Rafflecopter widget and answer this question in the comments below…
Have you planted your summer flowers yet and where are your main planting areas? Containers or garden beds? Let’s talk about flowers today!
Note: This post is sponsored by Ecoscraps, but my love of container gardening is all my own!
I haven’t planted anything yet. Hope to get to it this weekend. I usually do a lot of containers and a little bit in my flower beds. Thanks for a great give away!
Most of my flowerbeds have perennials so I don’t have to do a lot to them. I am still working on filling my pots this year. Love the colors that you have selected!
I live in upstate NY so I can’t get my plants in until closer to the end of May because of a chance of frost. But I am itching to get my plants into the ground. I have a flower bed that wraps around my porch that I have a mix of perineals and annuals. I also do a large vegetable garden (I love seeing your dads).
I’ve already started tilling and getting the land ready. I usually get my plants in a little closer to Memorial Day.
I love don’t have a lot of space, so container gardening is perfect for me! Yours are going to look beautiful! And I love the concept behind the Ecoscraps company.
I have containers and a small garden . Desperately need help in my flower garden. Would love to try this new soil.
I love container gardening. It is instant gratification, and I don’t have to dig in our hard red clay!
I have planters and a large walkway that I plant flowers in.. Each year I plant something different
The last frost date for my area is May 15. I took next week off work to start getting things planted and potted.
Already did all of my planting and enjoying the beautiful color!!!
We have a few weeks to go before we can safely plant here in Minnesota but I can’t wait! Our summers seem so short here – you have to enjoy every minute of it!
I have only planted two ferns in containers on either side of my front door. I still have to fill planters down the side of my front steps.
Didn’t know about this product. Immediately, I had to know where it was conceived.
My neighbor, 6th generation dairy farmer, closed as of last year, was going to diversify with cheeses. He wanted to take food waste and spread on the pastures, tilling in. He had been in Utah helping a dairy farm and saw many varied things they were doing, hence his food waste idea.
Georgia has a law, food wastes must go to landfills. A law. Politics.
Within the past 2 weeks Trump mentioned Wisconsin dairy farmers in trouble. Yep. They’re already beyond the trouble phase in Georgia. Industrial milk will survive. Multitudes of small family dairy farms, not.
Sad days on my property, next to the dairy farm, watching various buyers take away the dairy cows. My neighbor now works for Georgia Power, the property/pastures empty, untended, unproductive.
Wendell Berry has been writing about the death of family farms and small rural towns since the 60’s.
Anyway.
Great, great, great, to learn about this product.
Garden & Be Well, XOT
Hey, Tara, thanks for stopping by. I know that all distresses you so much to have your neighbor going out of business. So so sad!!
What an amazing idea! I’ll definitely support this company when buying my potting soil/garden dirt. I’ve actually planted my courtyard in the ground already. Once things grow and fill in I’ll know where I need to pop a pot or two around and about. I’ll head straight to Walmart and get some Ecoscraps! Love this time of year! Thx for sharing this company with us.
My main gardening area is a gardening bed in the back of our house. We planted 120 Vincas this past weekend! They look beautiful!
I’ve just started planting my plants. Hope I didn’t get them out to early.
Good morning – I live in the Midwest so really annual plants are not suppose to be safe in gardens and containers until after Mothers Day but I will start the process this weekend and be careful and watch the night time temperatures. I have one large flower bed which I have lots of perennials and then I add annuals for colors. Lots of container/pot planting all around our home. I will be trying Ecoscraps for my containers and have passed this information on to my gardening friends. Love the blog today and look forward to hearing more….
I have already done containers for the year.I live n a condo so I cant plant in ground. The containers are fun and look great already! What a huge pop of color for summer!!
Since we live in Texas, our beds get planted pretty early! But this weekend, I plan to fill my patio pots with petunias and ferns. I love your white containers!
My main planting area has always been all the containers (vintage and other) on our wrap-around porch. I will continue to use them because I love the pops of color in all the areas and nooks. This past fall, however, we had two huge stone beds put in on two sides of our house and planted with a variety of perennials. I have been adding some annuals in for more color and am absolutely loving the combinations of colors and textures. So in answer to your question, I guess I do it all and love it!!
Thank you for the opportunity!
I just ordered new pots today and look forward to planting them next week.
I enjoy planting containers on my patio…love looking out my window and seeing the pretty pots of color!