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In Calgary, no one plants gardens until at least May 24th, or after the Victoria Day weekend.

The daytime weather is fine and it might seem like the little plants could survive. Yesterday, it was 15 degrees Celsius (59 Fahrenheit) but last night that dropped to 3 degrees (37 Fahrenheit) and there’s a high probability that we’ll get frost again before summer arrives. Of course, you can plant a container garden anytime you want.

This time I used a shallow plastic pot because, until the risk of frost has passed, I’ll be moving my container garden back and forth from the balcony to the kitchen. The smaller pot means I’ll have to water it more often, but that’s okay.

I know a lot of gardeners wear gloves while planting but I like to get my fingers in the dirt. If you do too, it’s a good idea to scratch your fingernails over a bar of soap before you do your planting. It makes it easier to clean up afterwards.

My first container of the season consists of pansies, trailing lobelia, and Osteospermum—sometimes called Blue-eyed Daisy or African Daisy.

Do you get a jump on spring planting with container gardening? What are your favourite flowers to start off the season?