Plants for Outdoor Pots

macrubble, Dec 7, 6:17pm
Hi All. Looking for suggestions for easy care plants for outdoor pots.
samanya, Dec 7, 6:33pm
Federation daisies?
ianab, Dec 7, 7:11pm
Most any succulents.

They can handle direct sunshine, and a few days without water so they are pretty easy care.

If it's a more shaded spot, try bromeliads. They aren't fussy soil and store water in the leaf tubes to keep them going when they are dry.

I also have some little orchids that seem to thrive in pots at the back door with little care.
macrubble, Dec 7, 7:21pm
I have planted some federation daisies but we have some windy days in Christchurch and they don't like the wind.
quiz3, Dec 7, 9:36pm
Clivias, but they need to be in the shade to look good always. Succulents, a variety of colours and leaves, they make a good show. Convolulous, with the mauve flower, nice and showy. Depends of course how big pots are, dwarf fruit tree, a Callistemon ( bottle brush ) dwarf and same Camelia.
colin433, Dec 8, 10:09am
hydrangeas, hydrangeas, and more hydrangeas.

On no account plant petunias, especially the perennial variety. I had a wonderful show of violet bouquet, overnight they were decimated with mildew. Probably caused by one shower of rain, then sunshine. FAR too much to get rid of with a spray bottle. I'm devastated. They looked so fantastic a week ago. The bubblegum variety carked it too, and now the beautiful red one that had grown to nearly a metre across is going the same way. They are such a disappointment, and the girl at the garden centre said they are having trouble too, so not just me.

I've found osteospermum great, used to be called cape daisy and another name. They are great for containers.

Zinnias. They come in all heights, and I have a row of orange ones that hardly ever need watering while everything else does.

Aubretia (rock cress) A lady on here sells seeds. I'm going to try them in containers, apparently flower almost all year round.

Flower carpet roses.

Smaller plants. Lobelia. Looks great in pots and comes in upright or cascading variety.

Oh and Aoneum (spelling is wrong) swartzkof. It's the black variety. Lookes good all year round and grows quite big. There are a couple of other colours, varieties on here in TM

For something that is fairly low-growing, and long flowering, dianthus. Mine have been flowering for over a year.

ALL my gardening is done in containers.
colin433, Dec 8, 10:13am
Oh, and if you have a shady spot, fuschias, hostas, and the ever lovely impatiens.
We have a wall of impatiens outside out lounge under a pation area, with hostas in front. The magnificent SWINGTIME fuschia is a cascading one. WONDERFUL!

There is no end to what you can plant in containers, but keeping them looking good is harder LOL
crazynana, Dec 9, 3:37pm
I have pots around the place and sooooo many things turn tail and die, so now I have Gazanias of all shades (some striped) and have found that they last and last. They have lovely bright flowers and I just pick the dead ones off, water them and they are great. I am known in my family to be able to kill anything but these are still going strong. lol. I have hostas in the ground in the shade and they are still alive too.
paora-tm, Dec 9, 4:46pm
These two suggestions are my favourites for long hot summers. Zinnias are TOUGH - you only have to feel the leaves to realise that - they're like thin cardboard. They'll wilt when there is absolutely no moisture left in the soil - give them a drink and they're back too normal in no time, Very easy to grow from seeds if you have the time. If you want tall ones you may need to grow from seed - I seem to only find the dwarf seedlings in nurseries although I found some Sprite Zinnias (50cm tall) seedlings at Bunnings last week. Only problem I had with Zinnias is that snails seem to lay eggs on them so put down some snail bait to deal with them.
woody89, Dec 10, 7:53am
Quote, colin433: ("On no account plant petunias, especially the perennial variety. I had a wonderful show of violet bouquet, overnight they were decimated with mildew. Probably caused by one shower of rain, then sunshine. FAR too much to get rid of with a spray bottle. I'm devastated. They looked so fantastic a week ago. The bubblegum variety carked it too, and now the beautiful red one that had grown to nearly a metre across is going the same way. They are such a disappointment, and the girl at the garden centre said they are having trouble too, so not just me.")

Exactly what I've just found! I was tempted by (& succumbed to) the perennial petunias & until a few days ago was feeling very smug! Baskets were all looking stunning, huge plants just packed with flowers but noticed the telltale powdery look to the leaves & on closer inspection there is leaf loss. Gutted! These were supposed to be high health, last all summer (well, longer being perennial). there goes my xmas display. Think next time I'll try some of colin's suggestions.
macrubble, Dec 10, 8:46am
Thank you for all your suggestions. I'm off to the garden center this morning. So sad that my beautiful Federation Daisies have to go. They looked lovely for a few weeks after I planted them. I will try cutting them right back and see what happens.
colin433, Dec 10, 8:19pm
Exactly what I've just found! I was tempted by (& succumbed to) the perennial petunias & until a few days ago was feeling very smug! Baskets were all looking stunning, huge plants just packed with flowers but noticed the telltale powdery look to the leaves & on closer inspection there is leaf loss. Gutted! These were supposed to be high health, last all summer (well, longer being perennial). there goes my xmas display. Think next time I'll try some of colin's suggestions.[/quote]

Can't say I'm PLEASED to read about your disappointment too, but at least I'm not alone. I had a raised bed of Violet Bouquet petunias, they were starting to look as though mildew was going to attack, so I sp[rayed. THEN we had rain, rain, and more raina. SO good for the farmers, but oh my poor garden. The violet bouquet's are no more, I went out today and removed them all. Almost broke my heart. I didn't even have a photo of when they were looking their best, only one when they were just starting to come into bloom, but anyway, it doesn't matter, there will be NO MORE.
I have some green goddess zinnias seedlings, grown from seed purchased on HERE. They are not thrifty, but I'm going to give them a go.
Another fav of mine is Gailardia
rita197, Dec 28, 9:19am
Things to consider. is the pot in a shady or sunny spot. Is the plant deciduous?. Best to plant evergreen plants for pots I think. Convolvulus cneorum, also known as silverbush
is a great plant in pots for a sunny location. Campanula Rosholt is also good. I often plant these with a hardy shrub in the centre such as a corokia which can be clipped in a shape much like a buxus ball.
jan2242, Dec 28, 10:02am
Got given a small pohutukawa and potted it and left it. Never needs anything and looks great. The only thing is to make sure the pot is big enough as mine isn't and I think that is why it has never flowered - is over7 years old now.
viking60, Jan 21, 2:51pm
I have potted portulacas, also known as moss roses, this summer. Several pots, some in more shady spots than others but all get sun for a big part of the day. Five colours on one plant really brighten up your garden.