Can anyone help me with plant suggestion please?

[Wonderingwhyme]

I’m trying to become more green fingered and during lock down have managed to make the garden look so much better plus more butterflies and bees which is a huge bonus. I have some of those hanging over the edge of the fence pots that have lobelia one them and they looked great for a short while and now dying as they don’t appear to like the full sun. What (small) flower can I put in them that likes the sun and happy in a small pot but will last a while?

Also what can I put in a reasonably big pot ( prob about 12 inch) that will look good all year round and won’t die in the winter? My hydrangea which is currently in said pot is dead, apparently has a disease , so want to replace with something). Lastly how do I stop woodlouse eating my lovely pots? I have something beginning with c in 3 pots which have lovely green leaves and small purple flowers .. campula or something but woodlice are all over the plant at the roots and eating them!!

A California Lilac would look nice in your 12" pot, glossy dark green leaves all year round and beautiful Lilacs when in bloom. Bees and Butterflies ashore them too, low maintenance and hardy.

Have you thought about growing strawberries in your fence pots? They are hardy, low maintenance and have lovely white flowers in the spring before producing fruit all summer and often well into the autumn.

If you have your heart set on a flowering plant, how about small fuchsias? They will come back every year and are easy care

Woodlice don't usually eat live plant material, they go for the dead and decomposing stuff.

For the fence pots, the only thing that would cope is pelargoniums. Anything else is going to need watering three or four times a day in hot sunny weather.

Woodlice are harmless - they are not eating any of your plants, there must be something else or maybe they are just rotting.... first thought about the lobelia is - did you water it sufficiently ? Twice a day whilst it is this hot otherwise plants in direct sun will die. Fuchsias as Mummyoply suggested are very easy to look after and hardy. Marigolds are really easy, happy in full sun, will flower all summer, bees love them and they repel aphids. Not sure how big your pots are but lavender is more than happy in full sun and does not require a lot of water and will last years... just trim the flower off when they are fading, also other herbs such as chives (really pretty and easy), thymes (you can get lots of different varieties), marjoram... etc and they should divide up and last a few years - and you can cook with them too. Regarding your larger pot - hydrangea would have needed special ericaceous compost and feed and to be in semi shade so you could try replacing it with another one or go for an alternative - depending on where you are going to put it. For sunny areas how about a small shrub such as Daphne (you can get a fragrant on called Daphne odora which smells like the most beautiful perfume), a small patio rose or you could but a climber in it with a few canes (jasmine, clematis... or even sweet peas etc and underplant with some annuals). I also buy some cheap seeds such as nasturtiums, poppies, cosmos (my favourite and SO easy) and just randomly sprinkle them around and put a few seeds in each pot and this seems to work out well and look very pretty.

@ColdOopNorth good idea suggesting a Daphne, I have one in a planter by my front door and it's lovely all year round

Planting in pots is not as straight forward as it looks. The upside is that you can tailor the compost to suit the plant and move them around in summer and winter. 12 inch pots are not really very large for shrub like plants such as Hydrangeas they dry out too quickly. Acers, rhododendrons and Azaleas like ericaceous compost to thrive. Genreral prepackaged compost does not hold much water, so adding water retention granules will help, put crocks or polystyrene chips in the bottom and and feed during the summer.
Terracotta pots are attractive, but dry out more quickly so I often plant in a plastic pot and then put it in the decorative one.
I stand my pots on old bricks to raise them up from the ground, this stops slugs etc from getting into the pot.
Plants in the daisy family like full sun, such as Osteospermum, Calendula, Livingston daisies. Delicate bedding plants tend to shrivel.
For all year round interest, I’d go for an evergreen such as Fatsia Japonica and put it in a really large pot - 45/50 cms.Then in the summer put some annuals around it, I’ve got Cosmos and Zinnias round mine.

Thanks so much I will have a look at all of these. The hanging pots... they have been watered twice a day. There’s still a few flower heads on them so I’m still watering them? I can’t plant anything in the ground as there are now flowerbeds and I’m in rented!

I got a lovely Garry elliptica (prob got the last bit wrong) that was my first very expensive plant!! That looks nice.

You are all very right about the compost ... I haven’t replaced or added any to them after planted. They’ve been fed by a Normal general plant liquid feed but I guess wasn’t sufficient

I already have lavender. I tried some rock plants in pots and they get eaten by bloody slugs every single year so I have given on them. I’m about to put some decking down which will be seen from the window so want some nice pots on there. Grasses are a good idea, I’ll get an acer too..