Shrubs for north facing pots

Mander · April 2022

I recently bought two fairly large terracotta pots for the front of my house and have finally managed to get the feet for them so I'm ready to pot them up. I have an assortment of small shrubs in plastic pots that I have bought on a whim over the last few years and my original plan was to put a shrub in each pot. However I'm not sure which ones will be best. The house faces north west and I can put the pots either in full shade or partial shade.

I have at my disposal:

- two camellia, one of which is looking quite anemic and might not survive. Neither has ever flowered

- photinia red robin

- clematis (star of India was the name of it I think)

- philadelphus that sprouted from a stick, it hasn't put out any flowers since it started growing

There's also goji berry and tayberry but I'm not too impressed with them so I might try to give them away.

Pianoplayer · April 2022

Hi - I think the camellias are your best bet, as they do OK in shade - but you would need ericaceous loam mixed 50/50 with compost.

Both Philadelphus and Photinia like sun - but they also are large. I don't know anything about clematis, but there is some info here, seems like a large variety so might not be ideal for a pot:
https://www.taylorsclematis.co.uk/clematis-star-of-india.html

I grow hosta, ferns, Heucheras and Pieris in pots in my shaded areas.

Shrubs for north facing pots

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