Gardening/plants advice required

[Sean Dyche's Watch]

I have 4 or 5 planters in my garden, and I seem to be buying flowers/plants every year for them.

Can anyone please recommend flowers/plants that will last for a couple of years or more?

Thanks!

[Bosscat]

Hosta's the Mrs has a couple of planters with Hosta's in and they coe back year on year ... interesting foliage and striking flowers when they bloom ... (but slugs love them so needa careful watch for pests )

[Burnleyareback2]

Invest in a load of bulbs, spring and summer ones and you will cover spring and summer.

Tulips, lillys and something in between

[Guppyspotter]

Penstemons, look for perennialsrarhee than annuals, hostas are great but need solug protection. Read up on a particular plant and how to care for it and follow the advice

[aclaretinstevenage]

Hebe - small shrubby plant. The Burning Heart variety is very nice. Then select from any / all the advice in previous posts.

[Woodleyclaret]

Check out Thompson and Morgan site they gave good deals at present

[Clarets4me]

Astilbe is a nice perennial, available in varying heights, die back to nothing and come back every year ... available in shades of white, red and pink, minimal maintenance and no staking required ....

[catcatcher]

You want perennials- plants that come back every year.

You could try lavender, geums, hydrangeas, salvias ( a favourite of mine). Shady pots could include, mini daffs, snowdrop bulbs for spring, ferns and hostas for summer.

Sunny pot put mini iris for spring, maybe a mini conifer for all year interest, salvia for all long summer colour, geums.

Scented pots try herbs in the sun, rosemary, lavender, thyme, oregano. Put mint in a separate pot as it takes over - mojito cocktails in summer.

Stick with perennials and have a play around. If they get too big for the pots you can then stick them in the garden. You can also divide most up after three years so you get extra plants for free too.

[claretgimmer]

As the previous poster says perennials is the best option but in a combination that flower at different times so you will have colour throughout the summer also sun/shade lovers wherever you`re putting your planters, better off at a garden centre so you can see your combinations and the quality of the plants, slightly dearer but you know what your getting and I`m sure the staff would be happy to help. Enjoy your gardening

[bpgburn]

Daisies, Dandelions and Clover.

Guaranteed to come back every year from Spring and right through to Autumn. Also low maintenance, no need to feed or water, they just love to grow and spread.

[Venkys4eva]

Can anyone recommend a bush/shrub/small tree that will grow in a shady area that maybe only gets around 2 hours of very early morning sun in the summer, and then is shaded for the rest of the day?

[Hipper]

I have 4 or 5 planters in my garden, and I seem to be buying flowers/plants every year for them.

Can anyone please recommend flowers/plants that will last for a couple of years or more?

Thanks!

A lot depends on the shape of the planters and their location - sunny, shady, prone to frost.

In for example a round tub, general idea might be to have a central plant (eg Cordyline, Skimmia) with some overhanging plant (small leafed Ivy) then some annual or perrenial flowering plants stuffed amongst them for colour:

N path 7.2010s.jpg (183.24 KiB) Viewed 567 times

If they are a reasonable size some people plant small fruit trees - if the tub is close to a wall you can use 'espalier' types which are trained against them. You can of course also put kitchen herbs in planters.

I suggest looking at what other people do locally or going to a decent nursery for advice. This book could be useful:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Container-Expe ... G+Hessayon

[SherbornePhil]

Patio roses and hydrangeas have worked well for me. Do need a bit of pruning at the correct time, otherwise no real issues.

[Suratclaret]

Can anyone recommend a bush/shrub/small tree that will grow in a shady area that maybe only gets around 2 hours of very early morning sun in the summer, and then is shaded for the rest of the day?
Heuchera (Coral Bells)
Lamium
Tiarella
Pulmonaria (Lungwort)
Astilbe.
Digitalis (Foxglove)
The above are all perennials but will grow well in shade. Also ferns providing the ground is moist. I’ve grown skimmias and hydrangeas in shade but again will need moisture.
Good luck

[Venkys4eva]

Brilliant thanks