Question

Whats the best types of coloured shrubs / plants for year round colour in a POTTED garden? Im thinking cordylines and then get a bit stuck! Suggestions please. Also suggestions for summer perennials please (got spring perennials in daffs, crocus and hyasynth).  

Answer 1

I have a dwarf Buddleia, beautiful in the summer.  

Comments

@polychrome wow that is nice! How big a pot does that need?  

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@erythrism18579 It isn't a very big pot, this was it just after I bought it in September 2018. The Buddleia has changed shape a lot since then, it grew taller this year and the flowers were huge. Still a dwarf but more upright. I don't have a decent pic of the whole thing last year as it is in amongst my other pots.  

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@polychrome thankyou, looks so good

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@polychrome such a striking colour  

Answer 2

In containers I have some evergreens - ceanothus, cotoneaster, pyracantha, purple hebe, curry plant. I also have a fair few acers, although these are deciduous. Heathers and some grasses give year round colour too.  

Answer 3

Phormium. This is doing well in the pot and is a lovely colour.  

Comments

@polychrome lovely! Thankyou

Answer 4

Not really perennials, but Fuchsias and Geraniums are very colourful and easy to look after.  

Comments

@polychrome would they need planting from bulbs/flowering each year?  

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@erythrism18579 These days, with the weather the way it is, I leave my Fuchsias out all winter and they come back. Geraniums, I don't bother trying to keep them as they are cheap enough to buy each year and aren't quite as hardy as the Fuchsia. You can buy both of them as tiny plug plants any time now, I bought, I think, 9 baby Fuchsia for about £6 last year. Just keep them inside for a bit until the frosts have gone.  

Answer 5

Hebes are good

Answer 6

Hebes, nandina , pittosporum, euonymus alatus, daphne, Sarcoccoca , Japanese acer (would need planting in an acid soil for fab autumn colour), osmanthus would all work well in pots. I’ve based this on uk conditions. Summer perennials, perhaps anemone, astilbe, perennial geraniums, lavender, sedums, saxifraga, coreopsis, lupins all flower early to late summer.  

Comments

@torero20924 thank you thats so helpful. Im new to all this, most of my plants are fake