A garden in pots

[sleepyhead]

As what's turned into a bit of a lockdown project, I decided to do some work in our shared, "green desert" back garden this year.

Ds & I had already "stealth" planted some bulbs in at the edge of the grass last autumn which looked lovely in the spring and so I was inspired to try to add some colour and interest to the space.

I couldn't plant directly into the ground as a) it's not strictly my garden to dig up (well it is, but also owned by everyone else and the majority of my neighbours are tenants so it would be a nightmare to get permission), b) my bulb experiment meant that I knew the ground was mostly builders rubble about an inch down .

Additionally, the flats cast a lot of shadow so only the top quarter of the garden gets much sunlight.

Anyway, I've now got peas, dwarf french beans, spinach, radishes, lettuce, lavender, salvia, a geranium and 3 sunflowers all in pots outside and it's looking good!

That's really all I can do for one summer and I've already learned a lot of lessons (mainly about bloody squirrels digging in pots), but I thought I'd ask:

Fellow potted gardeners, what are your favourite plants in pots?

Anything that I might try later on in the year to keep some interest going after the summer's over?

Anything to avoid?

And how do you keep squirrels from digging them up?

Always hard to pick favourites . I have 3 hydrangeas in pots, and they always look great later in the summer (I am in West Yorkshire). For winter interest I recommend a cornus - their bright stems look amazing in the winter. Also, hamamelis mollis have very striking flowers in the winter, and the leaves are a great display of autumn colour as well.

I am very jealous of your salvia, I can never seem to keep to alive for long!

I have geraniums doing very well in pots, and a happy fuschia, both look pretty and provide a nice bit of colour. The geraniums seem quite self sufficient, not needing much watering and some are in quite a shady spot. I also have a magnolia in a very large pot which seems fine but it's early days as its only just grown leaves!

My lilies do well in pots as do my hydrangeas and fuchsias. I also have a philadelphus which seems to be very happy in its pot.

Ooh lots of ideas! Thanks.

It's early days for the salvia and they do look lovely so fingers crossed they don't die on me.

I'm hoping some of my neighbours join in - have had some nice comments but that's all so far.

Oooh. I've also just started pot gardening. I bought 10 lovely pots this week and have planted dahlia, fuchsias, campanula, alstroemeria sunshin and coreopsis sunkiss.

Honestly, I'm not even sure what the names mean but that's what they say on the labels!

They're all perennials so should come back year after year (if I do it right) but i need to also get some foliage which will stay alive during autumn and winter so I'm here to follow along!

Hostas do well in pots, and like the shade too, check what type of compost is best for them, they like a water retentive one.

I like agapanthus in containers, and also lupins for a splash of intense colour.

Oh.. and a Darcey Bussel rose!

I love lupins. That's definitely one for next year.

You need things to be drought tolerant as pots dry our fast

I have loads of pots in my courtyard and will try anything in a pot. I agree that Hydrangeas are very successful. They come in quite a few varieties, so your not restricted to the larger mop heads.
I’d look at planting something evergreen for the winter, such as Fatsia Japonica or a Sarcococca, which has a lovely perfume. Azaleas are also beautiful in spring.
Make sure you research the right compost and drainage requirements for each plant. Plants in pots are great, you can move them to create lovely groupings.

Our blueberries are doing great in pots - we got three different varieties (they cross pollinate so you need a few), and put them in ericaceous compost. You need netting over them when the berries come in or the birds will take them all.

Fuchsias are lovely for hanging baskets or containers attached to walls if you can do that?

I like hellebores (Christmas roses) for some winter flowers.

Also you can get winter flowering heather (needs ericaceous soil again but that’s easy enough in pots!)

Yes, the watering is also a reason for me not to get too carried away - I'm 2 floors up and already need more than 1 watering can full to get round them if it's been really dry - it's been unusually so here though. July's usually reliably awful.

Alstromeria as mentioned above especially Indian Summer is the flower people always mention when they visit my courtyard and then go out and buy themselves. Prefers full sun and when the flowers on one stalk die off you need to pull the whole stalk out like you are picking rhubarb (you tube has a how to) they flower from May until late September and are fabulous.

I've had great success with Arum lillies in pots and also love a mix of semperviviums in any container- they'll spread out to fill.

Grass combinations also are interesting all year round, especially tall wavy ones like a miscanthus.

Regarding the watering, can you get a water but and tuck in around a corner somewhere to collect water when it does rain... would save your legs/arms!

@Crockodoodle

Thank you for that advice. In totally new to gardening with flowers (only ever grown veggies and fruit trees before) and I'm making a little fact file for all the pots so I take care if them properly. I was very worried about pulling up full stalks so it's so good to hear someone say that its correct

I've got a courtyard I have in pots; camelias, (good in shade) bamboo, roses, chocolate vine, anemones, star jasmine and a Virginia sweetbush (similar flowers to magnolia). Also honeysuckle, which hasn't done so well. I've used cattle troughs and chimneys as well as large pots. The bigger the better, as they don't dry out so quickly.

That was a good idea the poster had upthread re. the water butt.

Alstroemeria is gorgeous! I've seen in in people's gardens but I didn't know that's what it was called

I've got a large planter with no drainage that someone's left out the back at some point as a makeshift butt, but that's a good idea to get a slimline one for a corner.

Oh, and I wish my yard was sunny enough to grow ranunculus, they're beautiful.

I have lots of things in pots but my favourite is my dwarf quince tree 'Leskovac' it has soft furry leaves, big pink blossom in spring and the quince fruit ripen to big yellow pear like fruit that can be cooked in crumbles and look beautiful on the tree too. The leaves turn yellow and rust in the autumn and I put fairy lights in the branches in the winter. Mines in been a 40 litre pot for 5 years now. I recommend them to everyone.

I recently planted a couple of large pots with ornamental grass in the centre then bright bedding plants (trailing begonia, gazania) all round the edge, really packed them in and they are looking lush and beautiful right now. The phalaris grass is evergreen so should give interest through the winter too.

Agapanthus do well in pots, they are fairly drought tolerant which is handy because pots do dry out fairly fast. They also like to be squashed in - also handy for pot growing & like full sun or partial shade. Roses grow well in pots - you just have to chose the right variety. Food wise I'm also growing peas, beans, courgette, cucumber, tomatoes radish, beetroot, herbs & spring onions in pots/grow bags and potatoes in a big compost bag. As for the squirrels you could try a fine wire mesh over the pots or thorny brambles may also work. If its dry you could try sprinkling chilli powder on the soil.

I love the versatility of pots, I move them around when they start to go over so you've always got a collection of plants at their best at different times. At the moment I've got pink and white pelargonium, chocolate cosmos, philadelphus, several hydrangeas, lilies and petunias all blooming Just planted white cosmos (no flowers yet) and waiting for my agapanthus and dahlias to flower. Dahlias were disappointing last year and the snails were munching them but I've moved them to a sunnier spot this year so fingers crossed. Also, my fatsia japonica in a shady corner is doing brilliantly, it looks quite tropical.

Also obedience has done well in a pot for me in the last few years and will need to be divided next year.

I do fancy a tree but I think we might be too shaded for a fruit tree unfortunately. The quince tree sounds lovely.

It's easy to be tempted to go nuts because it's such a big space. Must be sensible! Maybe just one more visit to the garden centre....