Many of the nation’s leading nurseries are predicting big profits in 2008 by developing plants and vegetables for containers and space-deprived urban gardeners. Smaller yards and busier lives have fueled a desire for gardening on a smaller scale, said Randy Schultz, a spokesman for the Mailorder Gardening Association in Albuquerque, N. That generally means growing plants in pots or raised beds in sunny but protected corners where they won’t dry in the wind. Plant varieties are now being designed to grow in containers, and Schultz calls that “perhaps the fastest-growing segment of this market. Lettuces, salad greens and herbs all grow well in pots or small raised bed gardens, Schultz said. Ed Smith, author of “The Vegetable Gardeners’ Bible,” says growing plants in containers could be big this year because so many regions are facing a late spring with extra rain and cold temperatures. read more

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