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All year round hardy plants for containers

ge1m96i2nige1m96i2ni Posts: 8
in Plants
Hello, can anyone suggest an all-year-round hardy plant to put in a container? I have previously had cordyline plants but they were killed off by the low temperatures this last winter. Any suggestions for nice looking hardy plants for containers would be appreciated.
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  • debs64debs64 Posts: 5,184
    I grow lots of plants in pots, if they are big enough, have the right soil and are fed and watered diligently I don’t think there’s much you can’t grow in a pot so it’s just a matter of deciding what you want and buying and treating it correctly. 
  • ge1m96i2nige1m96i2ni Posts: 8
    I think I would just like a hardy perennial that can survive the winter. I’m not too fussed about what it looks like just something I know will not get killed off in the winter frost so that I don’t have to keep replacing it.
  • TopbirdTopbird Posts: 8,355
    If you have a large pot you could try something like a small evergreen shrub (skimmia and small variegated euonymus spring to mind) perhaps underplanted with one or two small leafed ivies and some seasonal underplanting for colour. eg primulas or spring bulbs for this time of year and a couple of small summer flowering perennials - maybe Mexican fleabane, geranium Rozanne etc. Actually Rozanne can get quite big and straggly but you can cut it back a couple of times to tidy it. It probably has the longest flowering period of all the geraniums in my garden.
    Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
  • ge1m96i2nige1m96i2ni Posts: 8
    Thank you for your help. I have actually bought two Hosta “Cherry Berry” from eBay coming end of next week
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    edited April 2023
    @ge1m96i2ni Hostas are not evergreen as I am sure you are aware in the winter there will be nothing to see all the keaves die back.
    I was going to suggest 'Sweet Box' Sarcococca. Not really for full hot sun but good anywhere else.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • ge1m96i2nige1m96i2ni Posts: 8
    That’s fine, I don’t mind that they are not evergreen as long as they come back and survive the winter temperatures.
  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,718
    Geranium Rozanne and Erigeron Karvinskianus have performed well for me - in separate pots, obvs.
    Rutland, England
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    There are hundreds of plants which you could use @ge1m96i2ni , but as @debs64 says, it comes down to your conditions, the site and aspect, the size of the container, and the aftercare.

    Where you're located, and how exposed or sheltered the site is,  is also very important as to what will thrive.  :)

    Those plants you've bought are tiny too, so they'd need other planting/bulbs in with them until they're big enough to fill a 12 - 15 inch pot [for example] on their own. That will take a year or two.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    Just noticed the 9cm pot size as @Fairygirl has mentioned. The photo is deceiving.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I think a photo of the containers, and some more info will help.
    I have some 'nice' containers, and often use a few pots all the same size which will fit inside. I can then plant those pots up and swap them around inside the nice one, to give seasonal variety.
    Doing that means you can even have shrubs -which will eventually be large, planted as small specimens with bulbs and smaller perennials, for winter interest, then change the inner pot for something to suit spring into summer, or just annuals for summer depending on what you like.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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