It’s wonderful when you receive a new container as a present. All the possibilities! But it does also present you with a challenge. What to put in it? There’s your colour scheme to think of. You also want a display which will look good for a long time – and won’t be too high maintenance. That present has suddenly given you a lot to think about. So I thought I’d share the process I go through when selecting flowers for pots.
Flowers for Pots – My Criteria
When selecting flowers for pots, there are 5 key criteria I’m looking for:
- An extended flowering period
- Value – plants which will last year after year – that typically means perennials, bulbs or shrubs
- Plants which I can eventually plant out in my garden
- Plants which are good for pollinators
- I also like plants I can divide or take cuttings from to increase my stock
Some of my Favourite Flowers for Pots
Clematis
On this basis one of my favourite flowers for pots is clematis. Depending on the variety it will flower for months on end, looks exotic and beautiful and no matter what colour scheme you are going for there will be a clematis for you!
I have clematis growing up obelisks either on their own in containers. Or I combine them with lovely trailling plants such as rock roses or something simple such as the bedding plant Nemesia Wisley Vanilla.
Geum
Geums are so soft and wild looking, which suits my gardening style! They’re hardy perennials (so they come back year after year so long as you regularly divide them) and can flower from late spring right into summer and sometimes as late as autumn. So in my book they’re perfect contenders for a container.
Colour-wise they are on the hot side of the spectrum – usually of yellow, orange and red. So if that’s a look you are going for, think of giving geums a go. But remember most reach a height of 50cm – so they won’t suit a small pot.
Geums need dividing every three years. If you don’t divide them they can become woody and die. So keep an eye on your pot. You may well need to lift them from the container and divide them up after only a year or so. But that’s fine. Indeed it’s an opportunity to refresh the compost, and a lovely way to increase your stock of this beautiful plant!
Roses
Roses look wonderful in a large container once they’re in bloom. But when they’re not in flower the container may look a bit bare! So to get round this I plant them in combination with something else.
In my garden’s ‘hot corner’ I have an orange rose underplanted with the hot orange Ballerina tulips. This is a wonderful tulip as not only is it strikingly beautiful but it’s pretty good at coming back in future years. Eventually the tulips will run out of steam, but at that point during the autumn, I’ll lift carefully dig out the old bulbs from the container, give the compost a good refresh and pop new bulbs in!
For a softer, pastel look, I also combine roses with the wonderful plant erigeron. I’m a HUGE fan of this tiny, spreading, daisy like plant. Underplanted in a container with a rose, it provides a soft cushion of interest when not much else is happening with the rose. And when the rose is in bloom, well the combination is to die for.
Erysimum
I don’t like regular wallflowers, but I love the perennial wallflowers such as Erysimum ‘Bowles’s Mauve’. They’re a different plant all together and they make wonderful flowers for pots. Erysimum produces gallons of flowers on tall spires for literally months on end. Indeed, we’re in a pretty sheltered spot and ours at the front of our little cottage flowered all year long!
Erysimum is a woody-stemmed perennial and likes moist well drained soil. It’s happy in full or partial shade but while this makes a nice easy plant I have one word of warning. Although it is a perennial, it can be a bit short-lived – ie it won’t go on forever. But that said, it’s easy to take cuttings from. So make sure to take some as an insurance policy.
Salvia
I’m a massive salvia fan and have a number in pots and containers. I like them because they tick all of the boxes in terms of my criteria. If they outgrow a container or I want to change my pots I can always put the salvia into my flower beds. And they are oh so simple to take cuttings from. So once you’ve a salvia in your life, you can – thanks to cuttings – increase your stock and never have to buy one again!
Penstemon
For the same reason I also love Penstemon in containers. I have a massive container of Penstemon garnet and while it’s looking very unspecial at the moment, once it kicks off it will be magnificent. It always is. It’s an absolute show stopper on my patio – year in year out. I have mine planted with a geranium to trail down the sides of the container a bit, but to be honest, the Penstemon doesn’t need it!
The Supporting Players
As with films, the success of a pot often depends on more than just the main stars. The supporting players planted alongside the main attraction can be just as important. So I should give a shout out to some supporting superstar plants which I often use in my pots.
I’ve already mentioned that Rock Rose and Erigeron are brilliant. As are scabious and geraniums. I’d probably combine them with anything.
Another great support act is Cineraria. If you’re after a silvery foliage plant (perhaps to go with soft pinks or lemon) it works really well – and mine has gone on and on. Pairing with tulips for my spring containers too! The plant seen above in this bucket was planted last year. It has looked lovely all year round (including winter) and now has grown into a large clump. So I’m going to divide it up to use in other containers this year.
The daisy like Leucanthemum Hosmariense is another great supporting plant. It would look good with other yellow planting or as a strong contrast with a zingy blue.
It produces a long succession of white and golden-eyed daisy flowers above mounds of silvery leaves from late Spring to mid-Autumn. What a worker! In the picture above you can see that last year I planted it in a container. It looked wonderful. Then in the Autumn I put it out in the garden, freeing up the container for bulbs. The Leucanthemum has romped away in the garden. So I may dig some of it up and put it back in a metal container once my tulips have finished flowering. I love recycling plants in this way!
To be honest, if you have just these supporting plants to hand you could pop them in a container together without a big superstar plant and they’d probably look lovely.
Flowers for Pots – Final Tips
I’m not a big fan of ‘rules’ and firmly believe that as long as your garden pleases you/your family, no one else’s opinion matters. But I thought I’d end with a few final ‘tips’ which may help you make the most of that empty patio pot…
More is more – it never pays to be mean with your planting. If you can, plant plenty of plants in your container. If a pot is going to have a prime position on your patio you want it earning it’s place ideally from day 1. You don’t want to have to wait months or even years for the plants to grow and fill the container. Better to put lots together now for instant impact. You can always remove some later on if it’s all getting too full and use the spare plants elsewhere in your garden!
Big is beautiful – it’s better to have one large container than three small ones. Small containers can dry out really quickly and can create a rather bitty effect.
Small = specialised – having said that, there are some lovely looking smaller containers. So if I have been given one I’ll put something slow growing, or architectural in it such as small hostas, grasses, or young acers. That way the small pots can have real impact and create accents of interest.
Rule of three – If I’ve been given a large container I try to follow the planting rule of three – planting three different plants. A thriller (an impact plant) a spiller (a trailing plant) and a filler (a plant to plug the gaps)
Have a plan – it’s better to have a colour scheme than a random jumble of colours. But that doesn’t mean you need to have everything the exact same shade of red or pink. If you do the effect could be really flat and dull. But you need some cohesion to your colour choices. For instance in the photo above, my colour theme is a dark browny red. I’m also going for an exotic jungly look. Having such focus really helps me be disiplined with my plant choices. Similarly in the photo below, my colour scheme is oranges and yellows – with the leaves of the Acer and grasses working just as hard as the tulips to create the effect. This brings me to my next point.
Not just flowers – think leaf shape, colour and texture too.
Test out plans – if you’re choosing flowers for pots at a garden centre don’t be afraid to pick up the plants you like and test them next to others, visualising how your container will look. If necessary group them in an empty container while there, to help you imagine the finished effect. I certainly do that – and have never been questioned by a member of staff!
So that’s it! Some tips for selecting flowers for pots plus a few of my regular favourites.
Happy pot planting! X
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