Can a lilac bush be planted in a container? It's hardy to my zone, but in a couple years we want to move and I wouldn't want to leave it behind. Thanks for any help.
yellow lilac bush
Yes.
thank you
Kay, I have been wanting to find someone who knows about planting large plants in containers and overwintering them. You popped out with "yes" so quick there that I decided you should know.
What about roses in containers on decks? What about a tree peony planted the same way?
How about an elderberry the same?
I am afraid that without tons of soil around them that the roots would freeze. I am in zone 5. Last year I double potted a clematis in a gallon pot and then in a large planter and it didn't make it. I would just hate to lose my plants. What do you think?
Jeanette
One of the tricks to keeping things in containers is to realize that it knocks a zone or two off of the hardiness--lilacs are a bit hardier than clematis (zone 3 vs zone 4) so they'd have a better chance of getting through a zone 5 winter in a container. Out of the other things you suggested...I don't know what the hardiness is for roses and tree peonies (regular peonies are very hardy so if tree peonies are the same you should be OK), but elder (Sambucus) I think is only hardy to zone 5 so I would definitely put that one in the ground.
Thanks ecrane!! Wow, a zone or 2 and I am already zone 5 bordering 4. I don't know whether to take a chance on my tree peony. Maybe I'll find a light weight plastic container and just take it in this winter. I sure do like it and would hate to lose it.. And my Sambucus is the black one. Another one I would hate to lose. I got them late in the year and ended up putting them in a cold room in my basement and they both came thru beautifully.
Jeanette
See if you can find someone with some personal experience too--since you're in zone 5 I think if something is only hardy to zone 5 it's definitely risky to have it in a pot, and if you get something that's hardy to zone 3 then you're probably pretty safe, things hardy to zone 4 may sometimes work and sometimes not. But sometimes plants are hardier than they get credit for (plus it seems like a lot of people's climates are gradually getting warmer) so there may even be some things from zone 5 that could make it. The other thing you can consider is when fall comes around, dig a hole in the garden up near the house or somewhere a little sheltered, then sink the pot in there and cover it up with mulch, that will give you practically the same effect as being planted in the garden.
I got to thinking and wondered if the stem, trunk, or whatever on the tree peony would make it in a zone 5, which it says it will, then why wouldn't the root make it in a container.
I just bought it at the end of last season (year) and the trunk is about 2 feet tall. I put it in a cold room in the basement and it started growing about a month ago and has all kinds of new leaves coming out of the top of the stem. Actually, it has a couple of stems. It is so exciting to watch it, you all should get one. I put it outside a week or so ago and it is just doing wonderful. The temps are down in the mid to high 20s at night here.
Jeanette
I think it's really about how cold its roots get--if it's planted in the ground then the roots can go deeper into the soil where it'll stay warmer in the winter than soil in a container that's surrounded by cold air. That's why things tend to lose a zone or two of hardiness is you keep them in a container because the soil that the roots are in will be that much colder than the ground would be.
Thank you. I gave it to my sister and she is going to start it in a pot and then move it into the ground after it gets going. She has alot of rabbits.
I've had the same problem - big plants, pots, & living in a rental property. After having the owners sell off 2 houses in @ a 6 year time frame, I started keeping almost all my plants in pots & when relocating I sink them - pot & all - in the ground. Makes another move much less stressful ... dig up the pot, load it in the van, drop into new hole at new location!
Roots can & will grow through the drainage holes, so there might be some setback in growth in new place - but I've never lost one yet.
Another benny is that there is less problems with temps & drying out in the pots. I live in a very hot, dry summer area & this is a big plus for me.
Adding for info.
Pithy, That is so smart!! Do they get regular size in the pots? What size pots do you use?
I received a peony book for Christmas. I did not think they would have anything in it for containers, but lo and behold there was a whole section on them. Tree peonies are good for down to zone 4.
In pots, it just says to shelter with a wall or maybe some bubblewrap, burlap, etc. And if moving inside in January, to be sure to not be a heated room. Around 40 is good because that apparently is when they start waking up. January.
I was so excited yesterday, I went out to clean a big pot for it and I looked and it actually has 4 or 5 buds. This is in a gallon pot that I got 1/2 price for $12 at the end of the season last year. It is suppose to be a single dark pink I think.
Jeanette
Hi Jeanette,
I use the biggest pots I can get my hands on for trees, large bushes, etc. My yellow lilac & variegated pink lemon tree (both have been dug up & relocated 3 times over the years - no transplant shock & happily kept growing!) are currently sunk in cast-off feed containers that ranchers buy for cattle winter feed - not sure of the capacity but they are @ 24in tall by 17in across. Best guess would be @ 30 gals. I melt drainage holes ( a lot of 'em) in the bottoms w/a dollar store soldering iron (no cracking like drilling or punching). Best thing @ those feed barrels ... they come w/nice tight lids! So the extras are put in service for storing stuff like perlite, vermiculite, peat, etc. Also excellent for composting duty, strawberry barrels, sweet potato barrels, carrots, peanuts, etc above ground! One is sunk as a mini-pond w/a little fountain & baby's tears covering the rim - & it's been moved to 2 houses, as well.
I've moved from the ranching area that I got 'em from, but I'm ready to make a trip back up the mountain to see if some of my old contacts have any extras from last winter ... can't find a source anywhere w/Google, & I have no cattle (now if I could convince all the barn kitties that made the move w/us to the city to eat cattle feed, no prob - I'd buy full barrels ... darn picky cats! LOL!)
Scavenged @ a dozen 15 gal pots when my boss was landscaping & had the contractor put in some sago palms at her place ... score! They work really well for indeterminate tomatoes, bell peppers, lima bush, cannas, med size plants & bushes, etc. Even though the tomatoes, peppers & limas aren't for ease of relocating - sinking them in pots makes keeping them nicely watered when the heat kicks in midsummer (100-110deg regularly!).
Everything else does fine in 1gal & 5gal pots - just depends on the expected growth of the plants. Even after buying a place, I still keep up w/the sunken pots. It gets realllllly hot here!
If a plant isn't doing well in one spot, the pots also make it less traumatic to move around to find a happier location for them. Unlike what my kids say, I'm NOT rearranging the garden like a living room! Well, not always ... there has been a few times I've change direction in the design of the garden. But not like furniture - digging up pots & digging/refilling holes IS work! But it is handy to be able to change out a bed from flower to veggie & the like w/out killing off the plants that have traveled so far w/the household.
Just a small tip about burying pots w/ plants in them...put the drainage holes in the sides (way down low) rather than in the bottom. That way the roots will grow out the sides of the pot instead of the bottom and when you dig it up you won't have to dig all the way under the pot to remove or cut the roots. Your shovel will cut through the roots on the sides of the pot as you are digging. I think I originally saw this tip on the Brugmansia forum.
If your pot already has holes in the bottom you can seal them up with a cheap tube of silicone sealant.
Hope that saves someone some back breaking shoveling! =^)
Good point Heathrjoy. Thanks, Jeanette