Plants for Containers – and I don’t mean bedding plants

I was at the garden centre when I overheard someone lamenting the relentless frosts we’ve had. In essence the weather had affected the planting of their pots, as they’ve not dared plant bedding yet. It struck me that I’ve not faced this problem. Chiefly because I hardly ever put bedding plants in containers. So what do I stick in them? Well here are some of my alternative suggestions of plants for containers.

Camellias

If you’re looking for Spring colour and something with a bit of height, I think camellias are hard to beat. Statuesque, in sumptuous colours, they’re a real statement plant. They need planting in slightly acid soil, so I use ericaceous compost for them. If you’re super keen you will also only ever water them with rain water, as tap water, in hard water areas, has caclium deposits in it, which makes it a bit alkaline. But to be honest, I don’t currently collect my rain water, so my lot are watered from a tap and seem fine with it!

I have Camellia Dr King which is a reddish pink, with dazzling yellow stamens. It’s a real show stopper (unlike my baking)! I also have Camellia Fairy Blush, which is a more unusual looking camellia. It has smaller, baby pink flowers on sprays of branches. When it’s in top condition it looks really lovely, however, I have found it to be quite temperamental. So if I was starting out on my journey with camellias it wouldn’t be my first choice!

I also now have the Camellia Black Lace. This was a birthday gift from my work colleagues – they know me so well! It has lovely deep red flowers and has flowered in its first year with me beautifully.

If you fancy camellias as one of your plants for containers, you can see more advice on how to look after them in my caring for camellias blog

Small Trees

If you’ve only a small patio, you can still have a tree. As there are plenty of small trees which cope well with being in containers. If you want something productive, I’ve seen lots of lovely, smaller fruit trees in large pots. Figs, cherries, blueberries, olives, lemon trees – indeed I really fancy having a crab apple. If you are going for fruit trees, and only plan to have one, you need to take care to choose one that’s self fertile. This means it doesn’t need another fruit tree to pollinate it. The RHS has some good suggestions here

For my patio at the moment I don’t have fruit trees, but I do have trees. I have two of the Acer Orange Dream. I got both from the sale table at a garden centre, so they cost we almost nothing. One has gone on to thrive – the other is doing its best but isn’t quite as lovely – yet! The poor thing hasn’t been helped by the fact I accidentally pruned one of its deader looking branches – when instead I should have left it well alone, it wasn’t dead at all. So so stupid. Ah well you live and learn with gardening don’t you.

I think a bright blue pot looks smashing with this acer. That’s because the colours are on the opposite sides of the colour wheel. If you want other ideas for colour combinations, I wrote a blog about creating colour combinations which work. I often refer back to it when thinking about what will or won’t work in my garden.

Acers also like acid soil. In a funny way I think this is a good thing, as it means I can buy ericaceous feed and compost for my camellias knowing it’s not going to go to waste. I’ve at least two types of plants on my patio which need them.

Roses

Roses are really magical plants for containers. You obviously need a decent sized pot and to choose your rose with care. You don’t want one which will get too big. But the labels on roses are usually really helpful and will say if they’re suitable for containers. If in doubt ‘google’ to double-check.

I have the rose The Poet’s Wife in a container at the front of my cottage. It grows just over a metre tall and wide, which is about right for my pot. To soften the effect, I’ve underplanted it with one of my favourite plants, Erigeron Karvinskianus. I think the combination is brilliant. Sadly I can’t claim it as an original idea of mine; I saw a rose with erigeron in a display at a garden centre and nabbed the idea!

Grasses

Many people often view grasses as boring, but this is such a mistake. They provide height, movement and grace which is important when planting containers. As otherwise there’s a risk your pots may look a bit rigid and static. Added to this, grasses provide year round interest. All of the grasses I have in pots look brilliant during every single month of the year.

I love grasses so much that they are one of my key plants for containers.

They can be planted on their own like this Pheasant Grass which is looking smashing next to sizzling orange Ballerina Tulips in my ‘hot corner’. My lovely neightbour Desi divided up a clump of the grass she had in her garden and gave me some a few years ago. Well it has thrived in this pot ever since – and grown!

Grasses also work brilliantly planted in a pot in combination with other things. I planted Poa Labillardierei a semi ever-green grass. It has lovely slender slightly limey blue-green leaves which grow up to 60cm long. I first put it in an Autumn container, combining it with heather. But as you can see, in the pictures above, now we’re in Spring, and the heather has been removed, the grass, the Skimmia Finchy and a bit of ivy, are still looking brilliant. For those worried about the heather, don’t panic! It has been removed as it’s not looking so pretty at the moment. It’s in pots which are hidden away. So that it can happily continue to grow until I use it again in the Autumn.

Clematis – Great Plants for Containers

To say I’m a clematis addict would be an understatent. I have 10 in pots and a three more in by beds. I think they’re one of the truly great plants for containers because if you go for a climbing variety (there are some which trail) they offer height and beautiful blooms.

Again, like grasses, you can have them in a container on their own. This lovely ruby red clematis (sorry I can’t recall it’s name), romps away quite happily without a partner.

Or you can underplant them with something else. For instance I have Clematis Bernadine  planted with the spreading rock rose Helianthemum Lawrenson’s Pink. The colour combination is really eye catching and it provides interest for ages. The clematis flowers from May through to September and the rock rose from May to July but the rock rose is evergreen.

One drawback of clematis in pots is that the container can look a bit dull while you’re waiting for the clematis to get going. So, new for this year, I’ve underplanted the five clematis I have in arching pots, around my old apple tree, with Tulips Mondial. These are really blowsy, almost peony-like tulips. I absolutely love them. They also feature heavily in my new tulip bed which I blogged about last week. I’m hoping that by the time the tulips fade, the clematis will have hit their stride – well that’s the plan!

Hardy Geraniums can be plants for containers

Lots of people will put hardy geraniums in their flower beds, and why not? They’re a lovely plant, with saucer-shaped flowers producing pollen and nectar which bees in particular love. Hardy geraniums come in white as well as many different shades of pink, purple and blue. They look particularly good in cottage garden style schemes. They are super easy to grow – always a positive plant point as far as I’m concerened. And for many of us who have quite a lot of shade in our gardens, they will thrive there, flowering happily for months. What’s not to like about all of that!

But, I’ve always felt that too few people take advantage of all of these benefits, when it comes to pots. Hardy geraniums can be such useful plants for containers.

I have  have an old chimney pot with a glorious Ingwersen’s Variety geranium in it. This was on my Mum and Dad’s patio, so it always reminds me of them. It has huge sentimental value to me, which means I love it. But it’s so pretty and low maintenance too. I’ve had it for over 10 years and literally do nothing to it, except give it a bit of water and perhaps the odd feed. Even when not in flower it looks lovely, with its soft bed of shapely leaves. And when it’s in bloom, (early Summer) its pale pink flowers are so aromatic.

In addition to having it planted on its own, I’ve also taken some from this ‘mother plant’ and popped it into a container where I’m growing Clematis Angelique. The experts will suggest that propagating the geranium by division is best done in Spring. But I did it much later than this. I simply took a clump and stuck it in the pot towards the end of last Summer! It’s taken very easily and has grown at a pace, shading the base of the clematis really nicely! The clematis isn’t in bloom yet, but I’m excited to see how the pale purple of Clematis Angelique and the white pink of the Ingwersen’s Variety geranium work together.

Penstemon

One of the most successful plants on my patio is my Penstemon Garnet. This has dazzling crimson red tubular flowers and blooms from July right through to October. I have it growing in a container along side Geranium Orion which has gorgeous purple flowers from May to August. The geranium is recommended for ground cover, but mine is very happy in a pot where it trails in a rather wonderful way.

Anyway, this pot has colour for 6 months of the year. Lovely!

Plants for Containers – Be Brave!

The conclusion of all this is be brave or a bit experimental. You don’t need to buy bedding plants every year, and wait for the frosts to pass, in order to have containers full of life and lovely colour.

Indeed the only bedding plants I tend to buy are pansies/violas as they provide some Winter colour which carries right on through our frosty Springs. I’ve got some planted up at the moment in the containers the kids and I made from packaging during the first lockdown. Gosh that seems like a lifetime ago. You can see how we made them here. With a bit of ivy, I think the pansies look fab and quite elegant.

I guess what I’m saying in a very rambling way is that when it comes to containers, I think it pays to think outside the box. For instance, I’ve a Rudbeckia Herbsonne which grows to 150cm. It’s a big old boy and by rights should be at the back of a border. But I think it’s fun in a pot and is the perfect colour for my hot corner. It looks lovely even now when it’s just leaves (it flowers July and August).

Staying with heights, and my hot corner, I bought some Gladioli bulbs the other day (Nagrit and Redinha varieties). The colours just seduced me. Who can resist hot orange and deep purple? Well I couldn’t. But of course once I got home I thought where the heck am I going to put them? I haven’t really the right spot in a border for them. So I’m going to put them in two or possibly three containers, possibly near my Rudbeckia or at the bottom of the garden. It may be a stroke of genius or it may be an unmitigated disaster, we’ll have to wait and see.

But for me, such experimenting, and then waiting and seeing if you’ve pulled off a planting triumph, is one of the great joys of gardening. And when it comes to plants for containers, there is so much opportunity to have a play!