Potted trees

[SudokuQueen]

I'm struggling to find some potted trees. I want some for the front and back doors of my house. I also want to use them in our wedding next year in spring.

I would really like either blue or white flowers on them, and for them to be hardy as they need to be able to survive winters outside. They should flower in spring as well.

Any advice on what to buy? I've checked I dunno how many websites and can't find anything.

The only tree with blue flowers that I can think of is Ceanothus:

www.yougarden.com/item-p-510199/hardy-ceanothus-standard-californian-lilac

It depends a bit on what you mean by spring? March, April, May?

A standard white camellia/rhododendron/azalea might fit the bill or a cherry tree (Prunus). I don't know how well it would grow in a pot though. You can probably buy a standard rose tree in bloom at any time of the year that has been grown under glass via a florist rather than a garden centre so it is flowering for for your wedding but it will revert to it's normal flowering time next year.

Quite like that, not sure if it would be too big though? It looks quite wide. It would be April time. 🙂

I think I may just have to go for roses really. They will look nice, just thought there might be something different that gardening experts know of. I kill almost every plant I have.

I don't think it will be that wide at 90cm tall. The problem with buying nursery plants is they may not be in peak bloom at exactly the time of your wedding.

Bay trees always look smart but they don't have blossom for your wedding. You could buy bay trees and wire in some freshly bought flowers the day before the wedding to make a "bouquet tree". I would use a mixture of flowers though otherwise it might look fake rather than deliberate.

How about a climbing plant trained around an obelisk? There are April flowering clematis. Jasmine flowers later but it is also grown as a house/conservatory plant so you might get one in bloom.

Wouldn't a climbing plant die though in winter? I don't really have space in my house for 4 plants each winter.

I may just go with the bay trees and get some flowers around them for the wedding. They will look nice for the wedding and after. 🙂

Years ago, I had standard Fuchsias at my wedding. They were beautiful ( hired not home grown).
They are more widely available to buy now. As for winter, unless you have somewhere sheltered to put them, you could wrap them in fleece.

We used our standard box plants with margerrite daisy heads pushed into the box for the path to the church. The dense box structure held the flower heads well.

I have a Ceanothus repens, i bought it as a diddy baby plant at Morrisons and i’ve shaped it like a little tree, I love it so much!

It’s not big at all, maybe about a metre tall, I’ve had it about two, maybe three, can’t really remember! Years now.

The flowers are spectacular, they have a lovely fragrance to them too.

You can buy full grown ‘standard’ trained potted ones online, standard lilacs too which I’m fairly sure also flower in spring.
As do miniature apricot and Almond trees.

Clematis alpina has varieties with blue flowers fairly early in the year and is hardy. It's a climber, so you'd need a frame for it to climb around.

Neither clematis nor jasmine should die in the winter, they lose their leaves though. If you are a plant killer though, they would probably stand a better chance if you planted them in the garden. Anything grown in a pot is going to need more attention than something planted in the ground - watering, feeding, repotting, pruning.

I think the answer to the question "What can I grow in a pot outside my front door that I can't kill?" is different from the the answer to the question "What will look beautiful that has white or blue flowers and will be in bloom for my wedding in April?"

Maybe I should get artificial ones? Can't kill them.

Neither clematis nor jasmine should die in the winter, There are some species of jasmine which aren't hardy in this county, so they would be killed by the winter cold and wet. And there are some less hardy clematis which are susceptible.