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Searching for the Holy Grail!

mazmills39773mazmills39773 Posts: 3
in Problem solving
Could anyone recommend a plant (that probably doesn’t exist)  for my balcony that meets the following super specific requirements:

Grows in a container (there are no restrictions on size of pot I can have).

Happy in virtually full shade (few hours of burning sun in the morning in summer!) 

Either climbing so I can have it growing along my balcony railings or useful for screening (so tall and bushy - I’d just have it growing in a corner then and it would block the view of the balcony from overlooking windows). But grows very quickly or something I can buy that’s already large. 

Child (toddler!) friendly - Ie not super toxic or irritating to touch and also not going to kill my dogs if they chew it (they are unlikely to, but I would want to avoid something extremely dangerous).

If a climber then bonus if it is also prickly to discourage my toddlers from attempting to scale the balcony railings!

I have tried a New Dawn rose in a large (tall, deep column-like) container  which hasn’t done well and I also have a Rambling Rector rose somewhere else which I could try. 

If anyone has any ideas I’d be delighted to hear them! 

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Not a Rambling Rector … it’ll want to grow big enough to cover the whole building, and will be very unhappy when it can’t. 

    On the plus side, it’s so prickly whenever you lose a child or dog it’ll be hooked up on the Rambling Rector, unable to escape 🤪 

    One of my favourite roses, but not one for a pot or a balcony 🤯

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Papi JoPapi Jo Posts: 4,254
    Dovefromabove said:
    On the plus side, it’s so prickly whenever you lose a child or dog it’ll be hooked up on the Rambling Rector, unable to escape 🤪
    o:)
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    Rambling Rector practically covers my daughter's barn!

    There are clematis that should work, but they are poisonous - though they taste nasty so dogs don't eat them.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Not original choice, but a fuchsia night be good. Happy in a container, if you choose the right one, can grow tall, edible fruit and flowers, good colours available (or white), happy in shade, tough. 
  • mazmills39773mazmills39773 Posts: 3
    Fire said:
    Not original choice, but a fuchsia night be good. Happy in a container, if you choose the right one, can grow tall, edible fruit and flowers, good colours available (or white), happy in shade, tough. 
    Very interesting. I had no idea fuchsia were edible - delighted you've told me as I'm always on the look out for edible flowers to grow on our allotment. 
  • mazmills39773mazmills39773 Posts: 3
    Thanks for your help everyone!
  • puschkiniapuschkinia Posts: 229
    edited 4 February
    This might not be what you're looking for, but could be a temporary solution: Nasturtium Milkmaid? I have them growing in a container, underplanting a light shade clematis that's still a little too small for it's large pot. They grow really fast, flower until first frosts, climb (and trail), are extremely pretty, and edible - so anti-toxic! 

    https://www.chilternseeds.co.uk/item_1259G_tropaeolum_majus_milkmaid
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    I think it's the fruits of Fuchsia that are edible, not the flowers.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    Seems like the flowers are edible too.

    https://nurturedinnorfolk.co.uk/product/fuchsia-edible-flowers/#:~:text=Taste%3A%20Fuchsia%20edible%20flowers%20have,using%20as%20a%20decorative%20garnish.
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    https://fuchsietum.com/about-fuchsias/recipes/recipes.html

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