Hi everybody!
It's been a while since I've been on here, and I'm glad to be back. I have a question: do you plant perennials in containers? If so, any recommendations? I have two big round ones from Gardener's Supply, one with creeping phlox and one with lavender, and they are both doing well, but then I tried to plant mint (which I thought you couldn't kill) and some other herbs in a 2-tier self-watering thingy and a regular plastic windowbox, and the only thing that came back this year was a clump of chives. I would love to have a perennial herb garden on my deck, and maybe I should just get more of these round ones, but I wanted to plumb your vast experience... Thoughts?
Thanks!
Meg
Good containers for perennials?
I've never planted perennials in pots, only annuals, or bulbs.....if you plant in pots, you have to bring them in an unheated garage for the winter....
Some things will survive in pots over the winter. Last year I planted clematis, daylilies, and japanese irises in pots. They all came back this year. We had quite a lot of snow though - I'm sure that helped.
What kind of containers are your perennials in? And how about the bulbs?
I have hostas (small ones),heucheras, lilies ,clematis Biju 20inches.
All in 18 inch containers. All wintered over outside. No problems yet.
I planted veronica,astilbe younique,a short one and dianthu,in containers this spring. No plans to move to garage over winter.
this is Biju and Hosta Cheaten Heart
Heuchera Purple Petticoats or Petit petticoats.
I add coleus and other annuals when its time.
I have mint and grapes in pots and they come back every year.
Forgot to say I have 2 planters with Siberian Iris.
I'm too old to haul pots to the garage besides I share this house and there isnt room to store over winter there.
BTW my containers are the fiberglass type. NOT ceramic. I dont care if I ever use clay again. I live in Z6 where we have bitter below zeros from Jan to March. Freezing doesnt seem to hurt the manmade fiber planters.
But you do get a reliable snow cover.....we did in CT this year, but some years we don't, & that's when the freezing can take place.....snow is a great insulator.....
Meg, mint, and other herbs, do not like too much water so self-watering pots are not good for them. I have hostas in self-watering pots for years and they have done fine. I have other perennials in containers - all plastic ones, and they have done fine. Includes daylilies, barberry, heuchera and others. Also have woodies such as lilac, JM's and weeping Katsura.
I tried burying my pots in my above ground garden. I even put one that had snap dragons in it. All plants survived. I put in my top hat blueberry plant. My rose tree, Lilly plant.
Marilyn.Yes we get snow.Tons of it this year.
The deer even ate the top off the Petit Peticoat heuchera in the pot above. Its comming back fine.
Glad it's coming back! I noticed something is nibbling on my pansies!
Ah-ha! Victor, that explains a lot! My self-watering planters are all waterlogged. I'm taking the self-watering mechanism out of the big one, mixing in some new soil (anything I should mix in to keep it light? Sand? Peat moss?), and then filling it with peppermint, spearmint, oregano, thyme, and tarragon (and we'll see what else).
ge (sorry, I haven't checked the "real names" forum yet, and it's been a while), thank you so much--this is very encouraging. And yes, I like the fiberglass pots too. Much easier to move around, and actually, the two pots that have perennials in them now are fiberglass.
Yankee Cat: grapes?!? What kind? That's great!
And I'm not hauling anything, because this is a second-floor deck.
Speaking of nibbling, something is eating a bunch of my plants, and I live in the middle of New Haven, so it's not deer. But maybe that's a topic for a different thread?
Two years ago I bought a cuphea to attract hummingbirds, and planted it in a foot-deep decorative plastic container so I could move it around. It worked so well, that I brought the container into our "sun room" in the fall, watered it through the winter and set it out again in spring. Again lots of hummers! Tried to repeat the process again this year, but it started losing a few leaves and it had grown so big that it took up a lot of room. I just set it out again yesterday, but I have the feeling that this is the last season for it.
Have also overwintered parsley, chives, sage, mint and other herbs in pots, some plastic, some clay.
When I set up my recently purchased trough planters, I will combine annuals and edibles. Will have to skip herbs since they are self-watering, or just not use that feature.
Meg, herbs like a soil that's not too fertile.....
Er, how sure are you about the deer? We lived on Farnham Ave, in garden apartments next to SCSU's commuter lots...
Though there was a scrubby wooded area out back, it doesn't connect to any real wooded area, just drainage, parking lots, and apartments. I was sure whatever was eating my daylilies couldn't possibly be deer... maybe tall groundhogs?
But i was wrong... :)
Hi Amy......how's the garden doing?
Don't forget that whatever you have in perennial planters has to be repotted, every year or every other year. I keep lots of stuff that is not hardy in my zone in planters over the winter (in sunroom). I'm always amazed at how quickly the roots get pot bound....