Patio tree recommendations for a newbie please?

[TinyKittenPaw]

Hello - I’m a bit new to gardening and I’m trying to find two small trees i can grown in pots outside the front door that are a bit more interesting than bay or olive.

Is there anything every green that flowers?

Your best bet would be to go to a garden centre and ask their advice. They can help you choose something you like, and that will suit the space (hot, dry, windy, shady etc) and also some pots for them to go in.

I believe you can grow camelias as trees in pots.

Thanks both. Do you know if Camélias are ever green - i want to avoid bare branches in winter.

I think they are but worth checking!

Yes, camelias are evergreen.

However, don't discount deciduous plants with interesting barks. There are some japanese maples (eg sango kaku) which are at their best when they are devoid of leaves, as they have bright red bark. They don't flower (well, their flowers aren't showy) but their leaves are beautiful colours through the seasons.

There are also some cherries which have beautiful bark, some might be small enough to grow in pots.

You should make sure you get something suited to your aspect, how much sun will the area get? Camelias and japanese maples don't want too much sun.

Camellia, Viburnum, Photinia (red leaves more spectacular than the flowers), Pieris, Skimmia (the scent is breathtaking) Choisya, Ceanothus, Euonymous (variegated leaves so stunning in winter too).
All of these are evergreen and will do fine in good sized pots. I always mix some topsoil in with the compost when the plants are going to be in there long term and always leave a good couple of inches of space at the top so you can top up with fresh compost each spring.
I have at least 2 or 3 of all of these, some in pots and some in the ground.
Edited to add, Camellias don't like morning sun and Pieris and Skimmia tend to do better in shade.

Actually, I love my dogwood's bright red stems in the winter, but not sure about it in a pot.

This is brilliant advice, thank you. The position they would be in is full sun and then partial sun in the afternoon. I will have a look at the trees you mentioned I hadn’t considered bark :)

There are some great ideas here - thank you for including I will google images of the trees you have mentioned, but you are quite right some leafy foliage is even brighter and more vibrant than flowers. The note about Camilad is noted too as at the front of the house where I’m planning to put the tree gets full sun in the morning and more shade in the afternoon. I’ll factor in topsoil too, thank you.

I’ll get on google and check it out :)
thank you for the recommendation.