Great tips for the new gardener! I wonder if some of the containers in restaurants or theme parks, because they have a punch of plants there's just so many of them! How do they got so many?

To prevent terra cotta pots from cracking in winter freezes: When pots are empty, clean and dry give them a heavy treatment of Scotch Guard. I do this whenever I buy a new pot or saucer. The Scotch Guard consists of non toxic microscopic beads in a non toxic liquid propellant that dries in less than five minutes. Your pot is ready for use and good for several winters without the cracking and splitting away of the bottom of the pots and the thick edge at the top of the pots that occurs during freezing weather.

As much as I like my 6 LARGE terracotta patio pots, they suck water out of the soil in an instant. Eventually, I will replace them with something that is man-made (and less porous), just for that reason. But I now line them with large black plastic garbage bags that I cut the bottom out of. I put mulch in the bottom for drainage, then cut the bag off at the bottom and fill it with dirt, and I cut the excess bag off at the top of the pot after I plant in it. In a few weeks, the plants cover up the edge of the plastic, and it cuts my watering down from every day to about every 3 days. I know that the terracotta may have some benefits for the plants and its roots system, but this keeps them well watered and no white spots from salt and minerals leaching out of the soil staining them.