Green fingered advice needed

[ChildOfGallifrey]

I kill every plant/flower I ever come into contact with, every year I try again and every year I fail miserably.

I will be honest and admit I'm not the greatest at remembering to water.

We are about to move into or very first home after years of renting and I want to make the effort and take pride in my garden and hanging baskets.

Can anyone suggest flowers that are easy to keep (if I promise to water them regularly!)? They will be in large pots in front garden and on patio in the back garden.

Many thanks in advance!

What sort of thing do you like? Do you want sweet and pretty or bold and architectural or something in between? What colours do you like? Are the gardens sunny or shady?

Hanging baskets need daily watering. Are you up for that?

If you're not good at remembering to water, then baskets and pots are never going to be your thing. No judgey-pants, here, but the sad voice of personal experience. You want to plant tough, drought-tolerant plants, self-seeding flowers and perennials in the actual soil. If you're determined to have pots, make sure that they are not in a south-facing location, as they will get masses of sunlight and dry out too easily.

The plants that seem happy in my garden are:

Unkillable shrubby things -
Solanum crispum
Lavatera
Budleia (I hate it and can't get rid of it!)
Leicesteria Formosa
Philadelphus
Jasminium nudiflorum
Sambuccus nigra
Echinops

Ground cover/creepers/climbers -
Honeysuckle
Sedum
Wild strawberries
Phlox
Forget-me-nots
Love-in-a-mist
Margaritas (another hate-but-can't-get-rid-of)

Also pretty much any spring bulbs.

And quite a few more things whose names I cannot remember.

Oh yes, and weeds! I've plenty of those. TBH I just bung things in my garden almost willy nilly, and hope for the best. The ones listed above are my survivors.

I find nasturtiums fairly unkillable and they attract butterflies.

Also sweet peas.

I definitely second the idea of not using pots if remembering to water is a thing. And especially not hanging baskets. They are essential a drying system - plants hanging in midair with roots really exposed, and if it gets hot then they need watering twice a day!!

If you shove in the right kind of plant for the soil, aspect and weather, then you will find things thrive much more than in pots, and they'll take a bit of neglect too. The main thing is to improve the soil with loads of compost.

Oh god I'm so sorry I disappeared. Had a house wobble and I've been stupidly crying and avoiding all house related stuff as I thought we may have lost it but all is well again.

Oink judge away! I'm awful at remembering so your list is perfect thank you.

shove line and MyNight thank you I definitely will forget about the pots. No idea about shady areas yet so will look back at post when moved in.

Such great ideas and advice thank you. I may have a chance of a lovely garden that is effortless! Will start researching now

There's a long running chat thread in gardening if you want to come back for more garden talk when you've moved in. ::grin::

I think I may be needing that thread