Containers and Questions

First, I admit this post is a reflexive response to the blizzard forecast for tomorrow. Also, I fully expect Spring to arrive on Thursday. This is the price I pay for all the glorious days in July and August when it is non-humid and in the 70s and 80s (NOT the 90s or, Garden Gods forbid, the 100s). And my long, long photoperiod which is already extending from 6:28 am to 6:53 pm. Other people, other gardens have warmth. I have light.

Here are my latest containers. One is copper, which deters slugs and oxidizes to a lovely light green patina. Think Statue of Liberty. Copper is also famously inert, as are gold and silver. However, I do not intend to collect planters composed of gold and silver. I have had excellent fortune gardening within copper planters but I have also heard of copper inhibiting root growth. What does the rest of the gardening world think? Then there is my Portuguese mussel basket. I think "excellent drainage." But I am uncertain as to what to plant into either. Possibly I should choose ornamental grasses "providing a vertical, classic look." And, yes, I am addicted to gardening verbage from other websites and blogs. At this very moment, I would be happy with wet, unfrozen potting soil and a hint of plant life.