Good plants/shrubs to grow in containers?

[firststeps]

Want to add a bit of colour to our reasonably sized back yard - but all plants will be in containers. It gets some sun in the bottom corner but otherwise is quite sheltered and shaded. Anyone got any tips/suggestions about what I could grow? TIA

Red cordyllines as a centre piece do well in containers. Good for sheltered sites as don't like frost and can get scorched.

Not so much for colour but for fun and fruit picking Blueberies do well is sheletered shaded areas and can fruit well. use ericaeous soil.

Do you want to grow fruit? Minaret apple trees do well in a large pot.

Bay tree?

Hebes?

Melianthus major?

Twisted willow or hazel?

You can add extra colour by growing annuals around the edge of the pot.

thanks for the suggestions - going to do a bit of research on them and will let you know how I get on - thanks again

actually almost anything will be ok as long as you look after it. pots need to be big enough, watered, the plants need regular feeding because the soil gets exhausted.

Yes, and for permanent plantings use John Innes compost rather than multi-purpose.

I have a similar 'garden' to you, though it's concreted over, so in reality is more of a yrad than a garden. I'm going to paint the walls mellow yellow/ochre colours, have a few choice nice big terracotta or glazed dark green pts, and put ferns and evergreens into them. For colour I will grow (and suggest you do too) some sort of clematise in the sunny areas, so I get lots of flowers in the summer. Also rotate temporary plants - bulbs in the spring, geranuims int eh summer etc. Winter roses/helebores are wonderful - they are very tollerant and look beautiful, as do loves heart lost, or whatever it's called. It has lovely heart shaped drooping flowers in white or red and pink, and is shade tollerant. Hostas look lovely in pots and like the shade too. Hmm, run out of ideas now. Sorry!

Hi Luxmum - some good ideas there thanks for that