Growing your own flavorful fruits, herbs, and tomatoes in a small space is easier than you think!
It might surprise new and seasoned gardeners alike that tasty, productive edible plants can be grown in containers. While most varieties of edibles prefer the deep, fertile soil of a landscape or the easy, nutritious planting mix in a raised bed, there are dozens of delicious edibles that are happy to be grown in container gardens. New dwarf introductions of fruit trees, small thornless berries, and compact tomatoes mean that even gardeners with limited growing space can grow their own food.
At the beginning of 2026, we predicted that one of the biggest trends to take gardens and gardeners by storm was growing edible plants in containers. Even though the season is just starting, the increased popularity of dwarf fruit trees, compact berries, and aromatic herbs makes us feel like we were right on the money with that trend prediction.
The 7 best edible plants to grow in container gardens represent a diverse group of delicious fruits, leaves, and even flowers, but they all have one thing in common: each these plants manages to be productive and flavorful while remaining small enough to be grown in pots!
1. Dwarf Fruit Trees for Containers
Fruit trees are the top tier of edible gardening, both as the canopy layer of a food forest and the pinnacle of success for the modern home chef. Anyone can make an apple pie, but an apple pie that features your own apples? That’s another story altogether. Even though there are some fantastic reasons to plant fruit in your garden (we know of at least seven!), many gardeners may not want to select a full-sized fruit tree for a smaller urban garden, but that’s where dwarf and columnar varieties come in. These trees are specifically bred to be compact and small-scale without sacrificing yield.
Our favorite fruit trees for growing in containers are flavorful, high-yielding, and absolutely beautiful. For mouthwatering peaches and vibrant pink flowers, you can’t go wrong with Honey Babe Miniature Peach. For a unique take on an upright “thriller” plant for containers, check out Scarlet Sentinel Columnar Apple. If you’re after something even more unusual, Black Dwarf Mulberries are an eye-catching fruit for the patio or the plate!
2. Olives for Containers
Olives are incredibly stylish, aesthetically pleasing plants that have taken off in popularity in recent years. With grey-green leaves, grey bark, and stunning purple fruits, there’s no better way to give your garden a Mediterranean feel. The fact that they are evergreen in mild winters, bear exquisite fruit, are drought tolerant, and work well in containers mean that they are one of our favorite things to recommend to gardeners who want something special in their pots. That’s why Olives are some of the best uncommon fruits to grow in the Pacific Northwest.
3. Citrus for Containers
It’s no secret that at 7 Dees we are huge fans of growing Citrus in the Pacific Northwest. These plants really seem to have it all—fragrant flowers, glossy foliage, and of course, bright shining fruits that add so much flavor and color to our patios and dishes in Winter. Because Citrus requires some protection at low temperatures, we always recommend that gardeners grow their Lemons, Limes, and Oranges in pots so that they can easily be tucked into a protected space like a shed or garage if temperatures go below freezing. But beyond the practicalities of Wintertime protection, we think containerized Citrus is a fun and unique way to display these beautiful plants up close and personal where their fragrance and appearance can really be appreciated.
Our favorite Citrus plant for any culinary purpose is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, Meyer Lemon. Meyer Lemons have sweet, incredibly aromatic fruits that are thin-skinned and versatile. For a more exotic option, choose Variegated Pink Lemons or Owari Satsuma Mandarin Oranges, and be prepared to field questions and compliments from impressed guests!
4. Berries for Containers
Berries are one of the best options for anyone seeking to grow something fun and flavorful in their pots this Summer. Even though perennial berry plants are typically large landscape shrubs or prickly vines, there are now lots of excellent compact, thornless options for favorites like Blueberries, Raspberries, and Blackberries that are anything but short on flavor. To top it all off, growing berries in the Pacific Northwest is a phenomenal way to support local wildlife while providing something special for your family or friends to snack on when they visit!
The best Blueberries for container gardening are Sunshine Blue and Bountiful Blue, which are semi-evergreen and have large yields over a wide window of time, and Midnight Cascade is a playful, trailing option. Typically, Rasberries and Blackberries are thorny and require garden space to ramble and roam, but Raspberry Shortcake and Baby Cakes Blackberry offer gardeners compact, thornless options for container gardening!
5. Strawberries for Containers
Strawberries delightfully encapsulate the flavor of early Summer with their candy-like, scarlet red fruits. Even the best-intentioned gardener might have a hard time making it back to the house with a basket of warm, fresh Strawberries—they practically beg to be eaten right then and there! We think one of the best ways to grow Strawberries is in classic Strawberry pots. Strawberry pots offer patio growers a nostalgic way to display their beautiful fruits while providing guests with a little something sweet to snack on.
You really can’t go wrong when it comes to growing your own Strawberries in the Pacific Northwest, but to capitalize on the container approach, we think some of the older options are the best. Hood, Albion, and TriStar Strawberries are all great for growing in containers and can be a bit easier to manage than Alpine counterparts.
6. Herbs for Containers
Is there anything more appealing than a textural, aromatic container full of fresh herbs? We certainly don’t think so. Growing herbs in containers offers gardeners an easy, quick way to harvest their flavorful leaves for dinner, but more than that, herbs are an attractive, low-maintenance, often evergreen options for filling up your pots all year round. You can co-plant herbs with similar watering needs into one large pot, or put a single variety into a small pot for a chic, Mediterranean approach. No matter what you do, check water frequently, as drought-tolerant plants tend to require more water in containers as they mature.
We love creating herb bowls with tasty plants that have similar needs and culinary uses. If you’re into creating decadent roasts and stews, combine Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme in a pot where their textures and flavors can shine. For lovers of fresh flavors and fresh herbs, Parsley, Dill, Cilantro, and Basil can be grown together or separately to create the perfect pesto or chimichurri, or act as garnishes to salads. And no matter what you do, grow Mint on its own in a pot where its aggressive roots will be kept in check!
7. Tomatoes for Containers
Sun-ripened Tomatoes trigger something fundamental inside a gardener, leading to a flavor and experience that simply cannot be replicated outside of your home garden. Naturally, any urban gardener, even those with limited space or sunlight, want to grow bountiful Tomato plants, and that’s where container gardening comes into play! Container-grown Tomatoes taste just as good as garden or raised bed plants, especially if their needs are met through consistent watering and the addition of organic fertilizers. Our blog about growing Tomatoes will give you all the information you need to grow healthy, productive, flavorful Tomato plants!
Any variety of tomato can be grown in a pot provided you give it enough space and sunlight, but there are some varieties that were bred specifically for container gardeners. Tumbling Tom is a small cherry tomato with short branches that like to cascade over the sides of the pots. Some of our other favorites for container growing include small slicers like Bloody Butcher or Green Zebra, and colorful cherry tomatoes like Sungold and Chocolate Cherry.
Our best tip for growing edibles in containers, or any edibles anywhere, is to grow what you like to eat! If you’re a berry fiend, by all means, grow some berries in your pots! If you have Tomato mania and devote every square inch of raised beds to them, why not add a few to your containers as well? As long as you choose varieties that are willing to grow in a restricted pot, there’s really no wrong way to grow edible plants in containers!
Our garden centers are conveniently located throughout the Portland-metro area and Vancouver and always feature edible plants all year round! Come by and find the perfect plant to use in your containers, or browse our full inventory online.