Ideas for year-round container planting on a north-facing paved patio

[Surgeonsattheedgeoflife]

We’re about to o move to a house with a small patio area, fully paved. I’d like to have a lot of pots but in the past have really only used pots for spring bulbs and sweet peas. What can I do with pots for year- round interest?

To add to the difficulty, it’s north facing.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Sorry, to add- I’m keen to keep everything as nature-friendly as possible, especially bees.

I've got a lovely camelia thriving in a pot in a North facing corner that gets very little sun - I pull it out of the corner so it is in front of the patio doors in winter so I can see the flowers.

Also 2 acers and a skimmia japonica.

I've just bought a winter-flowering camellia which will be green all year round to add colour. I also have a callicarpa (beautyberry) which has pale pink flowers in summer and then purple berries during the winter (which the birds like!). I've always had trouble with winter-flowering pansies - they start off OK but then look a mess once the wind and rain starts!

That's a lovely camellia - do you know its name, please?

Lovely- thank you both. @Chasingsquirrels do you know the name of your camellia?

Unfortunately not, sorry.

It is several years old - I know it went into that pot 6 years ago as my mum got me the set of planters for my birthday in covid and sent me a link to go and pick them up from the Argos in Sainsbury's!
I'm pretty sure I had it for at least a few years before that.
Probably needs reporting, but I just scrape off the top layer and add new ericacous compost & granular feed in the spring.

I'd probably look for folliage effects if its shady an you dont want to change plants mid year.
Trailing ivy, a skimmia, with gaps for seasonal plants - eg in the summer, add in nicotiana (good for moths, you can grow it from seed).
Fatsia is also good in shade if pots are big enough, "spiderweb" is more interesting than the plain one. Rhodedendron in a pot of ericraceous compost, or camelia?

Hi I’ve got hellebores in my north facing garden in containers, they are thriving. Good for winter flowers and greenery in summer.

I recall a gardeners world episode saying it was very difficult to have year round colour in a pot, because all the different plants simply wouldn't fit in there. I think they did 2 or even 3 plantings a year. Last year I bought bulb baskets and large troughs. DH made wooden plinths on wheels so we can move the pots on the patio to clean underneath. I filled the bulb baskets with daffs and various tulips bulbs and had a stunning display this spring.

The greenery has died back, so I plan to lift the baskets and plant summer bedding plants in now. We are south facing though. One thing that attracts nature is water. We have a barrel pond which is very popular with birds and bugs.

Even though it is north-facing, the far end should get some sun in the summer.

I’ll say not a sweet Jasmine, not a holly (ball on a stick type) and not a bay tree - all have died in my north facing front garden 🤦🏻‍♀️ watching this thread with interest. I need something pretty by my front door but bomb proof.

I've got olives and cordylines, all doing well.

Not the most attractive for the bees, but great for year round colour and shape.

Japanese acers, fatsias, ferns for foliage; topiary (box, ilex) for structure; annuals such as impatiens, lobelias, begonias for seasonal colour. I tend to rotate pots so I bring out pots of bulbs to the front garden when they’re about to flower.

My front garden is north east facing, I still have success with pelargoniums, aubrieta, pansies, primulas. Astilbes and dicentra will grow in pretty deep shade.

Pots are also a great way to grow plants that would otherwise be invasive. I love my pots of houttunya and soleilrolia soleilrolii.

*houttuynia

Fuscias do well in pots and mine come back every year.

Hostas like shade.

I made up some pots last year which have rosemary, trailing ivy, narcissi bulbs for spring and lavender for the summer. They looked good all year round.

I have 2 camellias in pot in our north facing garden that flower in early spring - camellia japonica Ruby Wedding (red flowers) and camellia x Williamsi spring festival (pink flowers) - they are evergreen too

also hostas and some heather

My favourite part of my garden is my north facing patio.

I have lots of pots out there and move them around depending on what is at its best or in flower.
I have lots of ferns, especially evergreens, hostas, hellebores, foxgloves, dicentra, little firs, spring bulbs, a sweet box shrub, euonymous emerald gaiety, variegated ivy, and astilbes. I've grown a hydrangea petiolaris up the back of the house on a trellis and have a sambucus nigra in a huge pot.

I've made a mini pond in a half barrel and have a garden bench there. It's so green and restful.

My bleeding heart does really well in a shady pot, it comes back better every year.