I'm not surprised - container gardening is VERY popular in my neck of the woods.

We capture a lot of this business at the nursery by promoting container gardening in general, specially during the fall and winter months. Container design classes are always well attended, we carry a full selection of containers of all shapes, sizes and materials, particularly frost proof glazed ceramic containers from Asia, and we feature a big selection of hardy plants suitable for container culture, including lots of small shrubs, dwarf conifers and hardy perennials, groundcovers and grasses. We also complete a number of demo containers which are displayed with their component plantings to facilitate design ideas and ease of shopping. During the growing season these are expanded with more elaborate annual or tender/tropical container plantings and we also feature a class which focuses on edible container gardening.

Professionally, this is becoming a rather significant portion of a lot of designers' business, mine included, in this area. I know of one designer who's skill at constructing striking permanent container plantings has gotten her as much business as she can handle. Depending on the size of the container and the plant selection, some of these custom-designed containers can run as much as $1500. It has also become a feature at the Northwest Flower and Garden show, with a competition of planted containers similar to that of the larger display gardens.

If development in the Northeast is any indication, the figure is completely reasonable. We've had a huge amount of luxury apartment and luxe condo development. Residents want nice plantings for balconies and windows, and containers are pretty much the sole option since most don't have a yard -- or have postagestamp spaces if they do.

Any good books on container gardening any of you can reccommend?
Thanks,
Latebloomer

The folks that produce the S.F. Garden Show have realized this and are opening a new venue within the show that high-lights Container Garden Design.
Sunset Magazine is managing the new exhibition so it may prove to be one of the more popular displays

Latebloomer,
I haven't found one definitive book that I find highly inspiration that is dedicated to just container gardening.
I do like Sunsets $ 13.00 paper back book called 'Ideas of Great Garden Decor'
and a $40.00 hardback book called Garden Details, accents, ornaments and finishish touches for the garden by Wareen Schultz and Carol Spier

Both books above put a higher emphasis on decor and composition that uses alot of containerized schemes.

I have several friends in the green industry whose businesses are primarily focused on container gardens.
This niche service comes with its own set of unique obstacles ( and liabilities ) to be strongly aware of.

We've done many rooftop, terrace, balcony and in the garden containerized planting projects and can say without reservation that there is a lot to take into consideration when doing an installation and the liabilty can be very high on these type of installs.

Not cheap either, especially when you consider what some of the more beautiful higher end pots and related accroutrements cost and how many you may need to fully compose the composition.

One book that is a decent primer is Container Gardening Throughout the Year (Malcom Hillier, from DK Publishing in UK, but published in the US by Barnes & Noble Books, ISBN # 0-7607-2974-3). He also wrote Container Gardening, which came first. I haven't seen that one, but his sequel is a nicely illustrated and written little book that covers the basics of container planting but focuses on designing plantings for the 4 seasons and varied locations.