SUMMER COLOUR FOR POTS & PATIOS – COLOUR ALL SUMMER – OVER 20 EASY PLANTING RECIPES FOR CONTAINERS

Welcome to Adam’s Gardening Guides.
I live on the Eastern side of England that would be classed as Zone 8.
I love my summer patio, creating displays in pots and containers to add colour and interest right through the summer months.
Container gardening provides flexibility too as it allows you to move pots around to vary the display month by month, moving plants into centre stage when at their very best but away to provide a supporting role at other times.
Whether you want pots of lilies for fragrance, summer bedding plants for their long flowering performance, luscious foliage features like hostas or clematis, agapanthus, alstroemeria, succulents, hydrangeas and more, you’ll find plants of every colour, shape and form to choose from in this video.
And if you have other gardening topics you’d like me to cover in future videos do mention them in the comments section too.
Thanks for watching, and if you enjoy this video please press the ‘thumbs up’ icon and subscribe to my channel at Adam’s Gardening Guides.
Happy Gardening!

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00:00 – Introduction
03:38 – Hosta ‘Patriot’ and Galtonia
04:28 – Alstroemeria
10:17 – Agapanthus ‘Blue Storm’
10:50 – Patio pot tips
13:18 – Nemesia
14:38 – Lilies
16:03 – Yucca and Nemesia
16:58 – Agapanthus ‘Blue Storm’
17:37 – Aeonium
22:29 – Eucomis
25:17 – Kniphofia
33:08 – Hosta ‘June’
34:58 – Geranium (Pelargonium)
38:06 – Clematis in pots
42:58 – Acidanthera (Gladiolus)
51:00 – Dahlia
53:15 – Houttuynia
57:38 – Agapanthus ‘Blue Giant’

HOW TO GROW LILIES IN POTS – Adam’s Favourite Lilies And How To Grow Them

PICK THE BEST PLANTS FOR AUTUMN & WINTER COLOUR

MOUNTAIN LAUREL – Variety guide to Kalmia

GOLDEN FULL MOON MAPLE

THE GOLDEN HOP – EASY PLANTS FOR ANY GARDEN

HOW TO DIVIDE HOSTAS

Or for a tour of my garden in the East Midlands: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=065Th…

if you’re anything like me then you want your summer patio pots to provide color and interest month after month creating a display that is stunning to look out onto and even more sumptuous when you’re sitting outside at the weekend or relaxing in a comfy garden chair on a warm evening after a long day at work Displays can be bright and cheerful luscious and colorful or calming and relaxing In fact you can create whatever you want in patio pots So in this video I’m going to share with you some of my favorite planting ideas from the past few summers and show you how I plant and care for these over the summer months Perhaps you like pots of summer bedding plants like the striking osteoporum blue-eyed beauty or the lovely patunia queen of hearts which spreads out through summer to tumble over the sides of the pot Hardy perennials like Peruvian liies are available in dwarf and compact varieties that are ideal for pots and flower month after month And I’ll show you how I plant them later in this video There are ornamental grasses like mscanthus or short golden grasses such as hackan cloa but do include some plants with fancy foliage on your patio too such as hostas they’re one of my favorites and I grow about five different varieties all planted in quite large terra cotta pots or how about flowers that grow from bulbs corns and tubers such as ders that come in such a wide range range of colors forms and sizes Or these lovely pineapple liies like this bold and beautiful sparkling burgundy Or how about a pot of abbisoninian gladiololis for late flowers So cheap to grow and I’ll show you how to plant these in this video too Dwarf and compact clemetities look lovely in pots and I’ve got several varieties that grow back year after year so they’re great value Or for a hot and sunny patio try uraniums or should I really call them pelgoniums which really do put on a longlasting display by producing more flowers right through until autumn if you deadhead the plants regularly I’ll be featuring many more lovely varieties in this video too So I do hope it provides you with plenty of options to consider for your own summer patio So let’s start in my summer garden with a tour of my early June displays On the patio I’ve got lots of big bold pots of hostas looking absolutely glorious The summer bedding plants are out The peloniums are there My flower border is bursting into flour and will hopefully go on flowering well into autumn The beautiful wedding cake tree forms the centerpiece in this bed And over my garden arch I’ve got a golden hop and a golden jasmine Clement is growing up the side And then I’ve got pots of purple pineapple liies osteoporums in bloom the beautiful Ostramia sunshine there in flower and a host of other things hopefully giving me color for month after month after month Host Patriot stays nice and compact in a pot with a broad white margin around the edge of each green leaf Variety is key to creating a perfect patio So I grow a wide range of different things so I can move them about to create different displays as we move through summer Some pots of permanent features while others like this galonia or summer is put in position in August producing pure white hanging bell-shaped flowers on tall stems that really steal the show It’s always a pleasure sharing my hints tips ideas and advice with everyone So please give this video a thumbs up and hit that subscribe button right away and subscribe to my gardening channel There’s plenty more videos on my channel for you to enjoy too UltraIria are one of my favorite garden plants and for very good reason If you want a long season of color if you want plants that flower week after week month after month then look no further than Astramia or as they’re sometimes commonly called Peruvian liies Whether you’re growing them in borders or patio pots there are varieties available of all sorts of shapes and sizes colors and heights to suit And these flower in my garden here in the East Midlands from around the end of May or early June right the way through to the end of the year giving you a succession of color month after month and these are hardy perennials so they’ll come back year after year Ulststeria are fleshy or tuberous rooted perennials And if you’re familiar with a dia tuber with its central growing point surrounded by thick fleshy tuberous growth then an ultramaria is similar but more delicate forming a cluster of tiny tubers But while you can buy dormant dia tubers from garden centers in spring to plant in pots or in the garden you’ll buy straa as young growing plants and not bare soilless tubers You can grow dwarf and compact varieties in pots and containers A nice large size container is perfect where they’ll quickly fill a pot with flowers And if you dead head promptly by pulling or plucking out the old flower stems new shoots will soon fill the space to carry further flushes of gorgeous blooms right the way through the year A couple of years ago I bought three plants of a lovely dwarf and compact variety called Havana from a mail order nursery The plants were delivered in May well packed in a box and each plant its own clear carton that held the pot securely and prevented any damage to the small green shoots that were already developing These plants were growing in 9 cm pots making them in good value to purchase by mail order due to their small size and weight But you can find larger growing astramia in full flowering garden centers later in the year but these will cost you more My three plants were going to be planted in one large patio pot I chose a plastic pot about 12 to 14 in across and deep And then I filled it with a good quality pete free multi-purpose compost Firstly I sprinkle on some white water retaining gel crystals as I find this locks in more moisture to keep the plants watered right the way through the summer And secondly I’ll mix in some slowrelease fertilizer granules that gradually release their nutrients slowly through the summer months Just slipping the pot off one of the plants I can see a nicely formed root ball with white risomes just showing So this is perfect for planting Now when I’m planting a pot I like to sink the empty pots down into the compost adjusting their height and position to space them out evenly across the whole area Make sure the height is right so the top of the root ball of each little plants will sit just level with the surface of the compost And the top of the compost in the pot is about an inch below the rim of the pot not too much higher So you’ll be able to water the pot without washing compost out and down the sides Once all three pots are nicely positioned and in place and the compost firm down around each one you can simply tease up the empty pot and pop in the elf root ball down into the hole which is the perfect size Repeat this for each of the plants dropping them down into their respective holes Then fill in around with more compost and top up the level if required Just push it down lightly with your fingertips to make sure the compost is in close contact with each root ball It’s important to get rid of any air pockets Finally water from above to settle the compost Take your time and do this thoroughly across the whole area of the compost Don’t stop until the compost is thoroughly moist and water can be seen draining out of the holes in the bottom of the pot By midsummer the pot will be full of flour and putting on a bright display of these lovely golden trumpets each with a speckled throat And although the displays are short and compact these pots really pack a punch So how do you keep their display going through summer and into autumn well it’s important to dead head regularly So once an individual stem has finished blooming pluck it out Rather than cut it off at the base with secreteers or scissors grab the stem tightly and pluck it Just pull it away And by pulling the stem away right the way from the point it joins on to the ryome at the base that will encourage new shoots to develop up So grasp a stem pluck it out and that’s the best way to deadhead your area to encourage more blooms and stems to form I just bring my pots undercover into my unheated greenhouse for the winter where I’ll stop watering I’ll let the top growth die back and then I’ll clear it all away and in the spring new shoots will start emerging I can start watering again I’ve got a lovely pot of new shoots and I can bring it back outside and enjoy it on my patio for another summer of glorious color I position low growing pots of osteosperm around a taller bold pot of agapanthas blue storm whose generous display of sky blue flowerheads are at their very best through July I’ve had it in a pot for quite a few years so it’s probably quite potbound but I think that’s what agapanthas need to flower their best Lineium lich linei grows up behind a pot of pink hydrangeanger its tall stems arching over under the weight of these impressive golden yellow Turks cap flowers Now plants growing in patio pots and baskets do really rely on the gardener for watering So there’s a good start point actually before we get to this point before we get to high summer and the weather has warmed up Do remember that when you put things in pots try and buy the biggest pots you can because bigger pots hold more compost and hold more moisture Now if I’ve got things in terra cotta pots and I’ve got lots of my plants like this osteoporma growing in these terra cotta pots which look lovely They’re weighty They’re stable They look really natural But I line the inside of that terra cotta pot just with some old bits of compost bag some old bits of polyine before I fill with compost and plant them up Terra cotta is a very porous material and the pot itself can lose moisture through the sides So to stop the pot losing so much of that moisture just lining the pot with some plastic stops the moisture being lost through the sides of the pot So start off by just lining the inside Don’t cover the drainage holes at the bottom Leave those open Then the other thing I do in my pots and my hanging baskets particularly for things that I’m growing outside for the summer like this beautiful olsteria havana is I will mix in some slow release uh gel some slowrelease water releasing gel into the compost at planting time This is something you’ll find available in garden centers It’s a white crystalline uh material and it absorbs water You can mix it into the compost dry if you want and it will swell when it absorbs water or you can make it up into a gel before you mix it into the compost And that helps lock in more moisture making sure that there are better reserves of moisture in the compost throughout the summer Stops it drying out so quickly In my hanging baskets I also put a little liner in the base Saucer an old saucer will do or make something out as foil just to act as a little bit of a reservoir in the base of the basket And that means that rather than all the water running straight out it leaves that little reservoir of water for the compost to use during the day And this is one of my favorite summer bedding plants for fragrance Growing it in a pot You could put it in a hanging basket as well if you want but this is Nameia Whizzley vanilla and it really does uh reflect its name The vanilla fragrance is lovely I’ve positioned this pot next to my garden bench because it fills the air with this wonderful aroma of vanilla Beautiful repeating performance These flowering stems will just get longer and longer and taller and taller with new flowers opening from the tip Really long flowering season Perfect in a patio pot And this actually is its second year I didn’t do anything with the win in the winter other than just cut the plant back down to its base put the pot in a shelter position behind my garden arch and then come the spring new shoots began to form and it’s come up and flowering again for a second year So this is just a little tip Don’t throw away your summer bedding plants at the end of the year because some of them you can get through the winter to enjoy a second or maybe even third year of flowering from them without having to do anything to them at all I always grow a few pots of lilies and I’ve had Sunny Martineique for a few years now It’s a dwarf variety Only grows to about probably a couple of foot in height but produces these beautiful open pink blooms You’ve got the anthers here covered in pollen at the tips of the shoots And this is one reason why if you’ve got cats visiting your garden or you own a cat don’t grow liies Uh cats can be poisoned by the pollen from lilies So you don’t want these sorts of varieties You can get double flowered varieties and ones which are pollen free but a variety like this wouldn’t be suitable if you got cats around I don’t have cats and so I’m enjoy growing liies in my garden And dwarf compact ones like Sunny Martineique are ideal for growing in patio pots Plant the bulbs in the spring Enjoy the display through the summer And once these flowers have finished blooming I’ll literally cut the tip of the old flower stem off I’ll let the leaves die down naturally through the summer And then I’ll leave the bulbs in the pots of dry compost over the winter and replant them in the spring I’ve planted a centerpiece yaka gloriosa varagata in the center of some of my patio pots and around the outside I’ll put a different bedding plant between summer and winter So in the summer I’ve got a lovely nesia at the moment looking gorgeous around the yaka and in the winter well I’ll probably get rid of these plants Octoberish time and replace with some violas or some pansies to give me some winter color You probably know these yuckas they’ve got a really sharp tip at the end of their leaves So do be careful if you’re leaning over your plants That’s one reason this is called Adam’s needle as its common name But they look really impactful in pots They give you a centerpiece to enjoy all year round and you can change the bedding display between summer and winter My agapanthus blue storm has flowered a bit earlier this year starting in early June producing these beautiful blue flowers with a dark blue stripe down each one I grow mine in a pot It’s grown to about 2 and 1/2t in height And it flowers generously right the way through for many many weeks producing dozens of flower spikes And the bees adore feeding on their flowers too Look at this one having a really good feed Keep it in a pot move the pot to my unheated greenhouse for the winter tidy it up in the spring and bring it out to enjoy my patio in the summer I love growing pots of succulents on my summer patio and Aeonium Zwart Cop has been a favorite ever since I first set eyes on it Zart cop is a striking plant producing very dark succulent rosettes at the tips of upright branching stems and this dramatic dark color gives it its common names of black rose or black beauty If you buy a small young plant then it’s probably just one rosette but as stems grow taller they’ll branch and send out side shoots each topped by a new small rosette too growing larger and more impressive over time They thrive in full sun Well these succulents are native to the Canary Islands of Madiraa so you know they’ll enjoy the heat of the height of the day and flourish during a scorching summer without you needing to worry too much about the watering Aeoniums are easy to propagate too Just cut off a rosette with a couple of inches of stem attached and push this stem down into some gritty free draining compost where it will root and grow into a new plant Or if a stem accidentally gets knocked off just use this to make cutings too And that’s what I do year after year maintaining a large parent plant but taking a few cutings every summer to grow on into new plants to replace the parent plant if it gets too big or just raise new plants to give away to your friends And cop with its deep purple almost black rosettes and branching stems is very popular There are lots of other interesting varieties of aonium you should try I’ve grown Blushing Beauty for many years which has green rosettes tinged with red with the outer leaves in particular developing the deeper red coloration Again it has a good upright and branching habit and propagates easily from cutings The experts at the Royal Horicultural Society like Zwart Cop and Blushing Beauty too as both have received an award of garden merit Aeoniums can flower in late spring through early summer but I have to say mine rarely do just maintaining this lovely succulent foliage interest right through the year And Vela is another variety I’ve come across which is a seedling from the same original breeding cross carried out by Jack Catelyn in the United States in 1984 which is a cross between Aeonium Zartcop and Aeonium Canaryi And with vela the name coming from the French word for velvet if growing in full light as the rosettes age the leaves around the edge turn a lovely deep purplish red while the center remains bright green For variegated leaves look out for aonium sunburst with a green stripe running from tip to base down the center of each leaf banded to either side by yellowish cream stripes and often a slightly pink edge making these succulent rosettes quite striking This variegated variety is extremely popular and certainly worth searching out if you’re looking for something different and can provide the frostfree conditions Aeoniums need through the winter Single pots of aeonium can look great on their own I do prefer growing mine in terra cotta pots that are heavier and more breathable and plastic ones providing more stability especially when growing in heavier free draining gritty compost too I gradually move them up into larger pots as they grow as tall plants can get a bit topheavy and blow over when they become tall and branched and spreading In fact a group of rooted cutings can look impressive planted together in a large terra cotta pot planted in a gritty and free draining compost and then finished off with a nice layer of gravel spread over the surface around each plant And remember that aeoniums are tender succulents so they will need to be brought under cover for the winter before conditions turn cold in the autumn and given frostfree protection right the way through winter A bedroom window sill would be fine but even a greenhouse some other condition a porch or conservatory would be ideal to keep your anium collection looking its best and keep them from one year to the next Pineapple liies are my go-to flowering bulb when I’m looking for a long season of interest on my patio My Yukcomus sparkling burgundy forms flower spikes up to around 2 and 1/2 to 3t tall And each flower spike carries dozens and dozens of small star- shaped flowers which start opening through July and into August But as the flowers fade and get pollinated they form quite striking seed heads as a tiny seed pod at the base of each flower swells As the season progresses through September and into October each seed pod continues to grow and swell changing color from green to purple And these bold spikes produce a bold and impressive display right through autumn Adventurous gardeners might let these seed heads mature to save the seed and grow new plants but I’ve never had the patience to do this And in any case my Yukcomus bulbs divide and multiply naturally each year to produce new bulbs which can be potted up separately in spring to produce new pots of flowers Now these large flower heads can get quite heavy as they develop So it’s certainly worth giving your plants some support So I usually push a short cane down into the pot next to each bulb around the edge of the pot to tie in the flower spikes as they grow If you don’t then these spikes can gradually start leaning and then they curve upwards like a swan’s neck as they forge up towards the light like here on this Yukcomus Indian summer which can look quite attractive but there’s always the risk that they’ll bend and break Just take a closer look at these tiny little flowers which have a thick slightly waxy appearance Six petals forming like a star around its center each with delicate pink coloring and a prominent little stamman covered with pollen growing up from the base of each one They’re really quite magical If you’re looking for yukcomis then you can sometimes find pots of bulbs in flower in garden centers in summer but the best range of varieties will be available as dormant bulbs from mail order nurseries ready to buy through winter and spring Just five or so bulbs planted in a pot will produce a lovely flowering feature for any sunny patio Sometimes when I’m out and about not actually looking for a plant in particular but I come across one which I’ve never seen before And that was the case with this lovely little nifia called Poco Citron Myopiaas are red hot pokers And I don’t usually like red hot pokers I don’t like the oranges and the reds and those sorts of colors but this variety Citroen really caught my eye It’s got a lime green colored flower which starts opening at the base and opens up towards the tip And it’s really generous in its flowering performance This little plant has already got about a dozen flower spikes on it Some fully open like this one at the front but others still quite small and dainty meaning they’re going to get that continuous display of color week after week after week and citroen should start flowering around about July time continue through August into September Once the flowers have finished and they’re faded I’m going to cut the flower spikes off right down at the base and hopefully I’ll get a further succession of blooms developing Gives you a good long flowering season And being short and compact this series of pco varieties of nyopia should be perfect in patio pots too Now this has only grown to about 40 45 cm in height about 15 16 in high So really good in a pot Good on a patio or perhaps towards the front of the border where you can set it off against darker foliage or darker colored plants to really show off these beautiful lime green flowers at their very best Now these plants are hardy perennials which means they’ll come back every year The foliage will die back in winter and in the spring I’ll just make sure I’ve cut everything off at the base to make room for the new leafy growth to develop This will develop through spring And by the middle of summer you’ll start seeing the first flower spikes develop And then these will be opening up in the middle of summer to give you that display which takes you through from the middle to the end of summer perhaps even into early autumn as well And they love a really sunny position not shade They can grow in part shade but they might not flower as well So if you can a really good warm sunny position to make sure you encourage the best flowering performance I really hope you’re enjoying this video If you are please give it a thumbs up and subscribe to my channel at Adam’s Gardening Guides Thank you And if you like the look of Poco Citroron then there’s some other dwarf compact varieties in this range including a Poco yellow an orange a red and a sunset which has a sort of byolored blue So perhaps you could get a companion for your plant Otherwise I think in my displays Poco Citron is just what I’ve been looking for Now I do grow lots of things in patio pots Everything from bedding plants to succulents to alpines to shrubs and climbers but maybe this little red hot poker could be something else I could grow in a pot Puts on a nice long flowering performance Great to add that late summer color to your patio displays Probably joined by the sedums which are just coming into flower around about the same time So compact variety like this won’t need any support Could look great in a patio pot For planting in a border you need a really sunny site Nifas will tolerate a little bit of shade but it probably won’t flower as well So a really good position in full sunshine would be ideal The soil can be sandy and free draining and it must retain moisture Doesn’t want to be water logged needs to have free draining soil but something which will lock in some moisture as well And when you plant it don’t plant too deep Don’t bury the crown of the plant or it can start rotting off So try and plant it at exactly the same level as it’s growing in its its container itself Don’t plant it any deeper and don’t bury it They’re pretty hardy It is a hardy perennial but in some areas it might get really cold in winter and need a bit of protection into a slightly warm position in the garden near a wall in a sunny spot which catches the sun in the winter could be ideal And being short and low growing somewhere towards the front of the border would be great And if you could put a backdrop behind it maybe some shrubs or something to set off the flowering display so much the better It will show off those flowers in all their pristine beauty Some varieties of nifia have got an evergreen leaf Not quite sure about this whether these leaves will die down completely in the winter If they do you can cut the foliage off completely at the base and uh it will grow new leaves next year Some evergreen varieties you actually tie the leaves up to stop the water getting into the crown of the plant over the winter So I’ll have to wait and see but I think this is probably one that will die back I’ll cut these leaves off and uh in the spring you’ll get a new crop of leaves and in the summer more flowers developing And these lovely dwarf knifas also make nice cut flowers Just wait till the flowers have properly started opening and then you could literally cut off that stem at the bottom and take these indoors to enjoy those cut flowers in the home Lots more coming That prompt deadheading really will encourage Let me just turn the pot around here Just more flowers developing So some flowers here The smallest one there So a generous flowering performance from a nice compact upright variety Once plants are really established they’re easy to propagate too These are sort of clump forming hardy perennial and they’ll have a crown at the base which can be divided up As I say on many varieties these leaves will die down completely in winter or they can be cut off at soil level but come the springtime you could divide this clump up So once this one has become nicely established after probably a year or two you’ll find that you’ve got several distinct groups of leaves developing So you could actually if it was in a pot knock the whole thing out divide it into two each section with some new shoots probably about to develop and a root ball I’d probably do this right at the end of winter into early spring so you can get it repotted and it will start straight into new growth in the garden Just dig the whole clump out of the border with a decent size root ball Divide that up into pieces maybe just into two pieces or if the clumps got very big and established divide it into more sections Replant everyone Keeping the level of the old root ball absolutely level with soil surface Do not plant it any deeper You don’t want to cover that with compost or it can start to rot and then your one plant will turn into two or three or more and you’ll have some spare plants to move around your garden or to share with your friends Host June is a lovely variety Doesn’t get too tall So for a patio pop this is the perfect size of hosta to choose from Each of these leaves has got a darker green margin towards the outside and then an irregular pattern of lighter creamy green on the inside gives all of the leaves a beautiful variegation Right For a minute the leaves start emerging in April into May right the way through to autumn And once we get through to the middle of summer you start getting the flowers developing Could be towards the end of June through July and even into early August The flower spikes the beautiful dainty blooms style opening And the flowers themselves open from the base of the stalk up towards the tip So each of these flower spikes can provide some color over several weeks Once it is finished flowering I’ll cut these right down to their base and trim them away completely You’ll be left with this ball of beautiful variegated foliage to enjoy for the rest of the summer But I think that hostas make perfect patio pots You could grow them in a shady spot if you want They’re perfectly fine in full sun as well Just make sure you keep them well watered and they’re hardy so they come back year after year after year Don’t provide any special protection for over the winter but you’ll be rewarded each year with a beautiful display like this Zonal leaf pelagonium or geraniums as we commonly call them are an ideal bedding plant choice for an open position on a hot and sunny patio as they’ll tolerate the heat and flower well at the height of a scorching summer Of course they’ll need regular watering Virtually all summer bedding plants in pots will But geraniums won’t wilt and turn crispy if their compost does occasionally dry out as can happen if you let the compost of patunias or busy lizes dry out The plants will really suffer if you do So with geraniums a weekend away without water shouldn’t be the kiss of death I like to plant geraniums generously So I’ve invested in really large terra cotta patio pots that hold more compost and therefore more plants to create really bold displays And personally I prefer spending a little bit more and buying slightly bigger potted plants rather than the smaller and cheaper plug plants They’re bigger and bushier carrying more flowers right from the start of the season and they’ll grow away more quickly to put on a colorful show straight away rather than having to wait for several weeks for them to establish Firm compost down around each root ball to remove any air pockets And to keep plants fed throughout the summer I sprinkle some slowrelease fertilizer granules down around each plant And these dissolve slowly through the summer to provide a regular supply of nutrients for the roots to take up to encourage strong growth and good repeat flowering performance Water well after planting to settle the compost down around each of the root balls of the plants and top up with more compost if necessary to fill in any gaps And do remember that you can place terra cotta pots in large sauces and top these up with water early on a summer’s day so the pot has a generous reservoir of moisture to take up throughout the day This will certainly help ensure pots don’t dry out completely on hot days at the height of summer and is certainly worth putting in place if you intend to be away for a few days or perhaps over a long weekend And you can choose from many different colors of geraniums from soft pink to bright salmon clear pure white to deep and vibrant red Eye-catching by colors like this pink variety to scorching orange and even double flowered forms and varieties with variegated leaves too You can also consider choosing trailing ivy leafed geraniums perfect for hanging baskets or around the edge of bigger pots These also have a superb long season of flowering And they look lovely in planting combinations such as here with silver leafed helicryum Another bedding plant that relishes hot dry summer weather There are so many wonderful varieties of clemetus we can grow around our gardens but the large flowered summer hybrids are some of the most floriferous and there are lots of varieties to choose from But the dwarf compact varieties are probably the best to choose when you’re looking at something for a patio pot that you need to be reasonably self-contained Of course you could grow something in a pot and train it onto an archway or a trellis panel but in a pot like this I’ve chosen a little metal spiral support to train the clemetus onto to provide some extra support as it grows up and flowers And when you’re choosing these metal supports try and choose one with plenty of horizontal or spiral supports on it Sometimes these metal supports are very sparse and there’s not many spokes to train the shoots onto but this little one is perfect Pushes down nicely into the pot is nice and secure and provides the perfect support for this compact clemetus variety This is Beiju And isn’t it beautiful with these lovely sky blue flowers beautiful little boss of seles in the center providing some extra interest And I love having a few clemetus in pots that I can bring out and put in a prime position when they’re looking their very best I know what you might be saying Clemetus aren’t the longest flowering plant Their flowering season is shorter than some other plants But still I think that when they are in full flower they really steal the show and look magnificent So choosing a few dwarf compact varieties yourself from growing them on the patio could be just the thing to provide that striking feature Maybe looking at this best through May or June or July particularly these large flowering hybrids that look bold colorful and really impressive Short growing clemetus are perfect for pots and that’s exactly what I did with clemetus pyu This early summer flowering clemetus carries my pink flowers with a slightly wavy edge to their petals You can grow clemetus pyu in a patio pot to add height and interest to your displays So I bought small plants in the spring and grew them in a large terra cotta pot Make sure there’s a drainage hole in the base of the pot And then add an inch or so of gravel to improve drainage at the base followed by a pete free potting compost filling it up to an inch or so below the rim of the pot You can mix in some slowrelease fertilizer into the compost at this stage if you want to Next make a support by putting in some long canes Perhaps 5 to 6t tall Pushing these right the way down into the compost around the edge of the pot About eight canes should be fine Spaced out evenly around the pot And tie them together at the top so you produce a rigid frame I planted two clemetus pyu in my pot but if you can get a larger plant then possibly one will do I planted one on either side Plant deeply burying their root balls deeply into the compost Now gently untwine the shoots from the support canes there on and tie them onto your new cane framework Now do work slowly and carefully as clemetus stems are quite brittle and they can easily break So take your time tying each chute onto a different cane with some soft garden string If the clement shoots appear too long and tall for your support then just spiral them into place instead winding them round and securing them at intervals Once the compost is firmed around the root balls water thoroughly to settle the compost down around each plant and water regularly through warm and dry weather to ensure that the pots don’t dry out shoots will grow up and carry a lovely display of flowers from around late May through into June With Clemetus pyu some of the first flush of flowers can be double or semi- double And you can see here on the bloom on the left with those extra petals and each flower measures about 4 in across All you’ve got to do is snip these away once they’ve faded and new growth will develop through the summer and carry further flushes of flower later in the season I’m always looking at ways to keep the color coming through my summer patio So I’ve got clementium pots to give me flowers through June Summer bedding plants like pelagoniums and patunias give me color through July into August When you’re looking for something to keep the color going through from August into September it’s worth considering some of the summer flowering bulbs Of course you can get Yukcomus the pineapple liies which look gorgeous and I’ve got a range of those which I grow in patio pots including a lovely dwarf variety called Yukcomus layer You can get ders to grow in pots and they’ll keep the color going into autumn as well But today I’m going to grow a little corn called acidanthra This is acidanthrama mureli Sometimes listed in the cataloges as gladiololis as well Gladiololis calanthus So you’ll find this with both names Beautiful little corn And I’ve got a packet here which has got 15 corns in it And these will be great in a patio pot Now I want something which is going to give me good stability because these flowering bulbs will grow to a good three maybe fourt in height They produce a swordelike leaf which looks attractive through the summer months and then the flowers be coming as you move through probably from August into September time So today I’ve got a pot I’ve got some grits to go in the base a good multi-purpose pete free compost to put in there and some slowrelease fertilizer I’m going to mix in at the same time Now I’ve chosen a pot which is made of terra cotta and it’s got a drainage hole in the base So I’m going to cover that drainage hole just with some old bits of broken terra cotta pot just to stop the compost from falling out through the hole in the base And what I also like to do is just add a layer of grit around that as well This just makes sure that the pot drains freely and the base of the pot and the compost isn’t going to get saturated with water it in We can add some compost Good pet-free compost is absolutely ideal This is a multi-purpose compost but it doesn’t contain much nutrient So what I do at planting time is to mix in a generous quantity of these slow release fertilizer granules Mix these in Add some more compost Mix in some more granules and just get a nice even mix of these throughout These granules release their nutrients over the course of the coming months So there’s going to be no need to feed this pot It’s going to keep the bulbs going right the way through the summer Now I want the little corns to be planted about 4 in deep So I’m going to adjust the height of the compost in here so that the bulbs will sit about 4 in below the compost I’m going to space these out about 4 in deep and 4 in apart So just get all of your little corns and spread these out Doesn’t have to be too precise but I’m going to start by planting some around the edges of the container I can adjust them if I need to space them out a little bit more The ideal is 4 in deep 4 in apart but if some are a little bit closer it’s not going to be the end of the world And these will grow up through the summer months Now cover them with more compost Good layer of compost over the top And this will leave those little corns sitting a good four inches below the compost And that way this compost is going to be providing some stability to the corns and the plants as they grow So continue adding more compost I like to leave the surface of the compost good inch below the rim of the pot and that makes watering much easier So something I’ll do next just give the compost a good drench Settles the compost down around those little corns and will encourage them to starting to grow Now you could be planting these little acidanthra as early as March or April I’m planting mine later in May which does mean they’ll be blooming out a little bit later But if you started them off early I’d probably plant this up in a conservatory or greenhouse Even if it’s not heated it gives that little bit of protection The compost won’t get too cold at night and it will bring the growth on a little bit quicker Otherwise you can wait until it’s warm enough to put pots out on the patio plant these up And as I say later planting probably later flowers but I’m looking forward to a flowering display on these beautiful acid probably later in September And don’t they look wonderful these are the acidanththeras that I planted in May and they’ve been flowering for a few weeks now I’m into the beginning of September now These probably started showing their first flowers around about the second half of August And you’ll get different flower spikes developing at different times Each of those little corns is producing one spike of flower So at the moment I’ve got one two three four five got six spikes divert Hopefully a couple more will develop soon too And the flowers open in succession as they move up the stems As the bottom ones have faded you can just literally pinch off the faded blooms and you’ll get more opening up the tip of the chute over several weeks So each of these spikes of flowers will produce these beautiful hanging dainty white blooms for several weeks on end And each of these flowers has got these beautiful little black markings on some of the petals as well Absolutely gorgeous bloom Now once these bulbs have finished blooming because they’re growing in a pot I can bring them under cover If you planted the uh little corns in the border then I would dig them up in the autumn Don’t let them get frosted and water logged But growing in a pot I’ll move this pot to a shelter position I’ll keep watering for as long as possible I’ll let the leaves die down naturally So I’m going to move this pot into my unheated greenhouse for the winter Let the plants grow for as long as possible Keep watering through the autumn time Let the tops die down naturally And then I’ll be able to harvest the little corns in the same way that you’d harvest uh gladioli Digging from the borders cutting back the tops just saving that little corn perhaps putting in some dry compost over the winter time and then I’ll be able to replant them next year So don’t let them get wet and water logged and frozen because that will be the kiss of death to these tender little corns Give them the winter protection they need Plant them up and hopefully I’ll enjoy another display of flowers next year Don’t forget dies for longlasting color either either for displays in pots and containers or to cut and bring indoors as cut flowers So many varieties of dia are available I won’t cover them all now I’ve mentioned others in some of my other videos But this one is pink princess I’ve had it uh for a few years now I grow it in a large patio pot I will bring this pot into my greenhouse for the winter I don’t heat my greenhouse I’ll just let the top die down naturally and leave the daily tuber in the pot Knock it out in the spring clean off the compost replant it But these are wonderful plants to have if you want a long season of color in your garden You can find ders will be starting to flower probably even as early as July Certainly this variety was blooming early giving you flowers through July August and now into September And this will keep going right up until frost will novel it and kill off the top So if we do get a mild autumn this can keep going even longer But if you’re in a cold area then those first frosts of autumn will probably be the kiss of death to your ders Lots of varieties to choose from You can get short compact ones I’ve got one here which is just a nice little dwarf one So there’s lots of different varieties you can get for growing in pots and containers on your patio The main thing to do is to make sure you dead head regularly Cut off the dead flowers Don’t let the uh flowers go to seed and you will keep the color going Give you that continuity through Regular dead heading is essential It will encourage further flowers to develop from further down the plant And so you can keep a display like this going right the way through the year And the nice thing about daily tub is if you can possibly give them that winter protection is you can replant them the tuber will be even bigger next year and give you another flowering display So great value for money because you buy them once and you can get several years of color out of that single purchase This is a hardy perennial called Hortonia cordata chameleon Usually grown in a bog garden situation It loves a moist soil And if I had it growing in a pot here Let’s have a look at the root ball You can see here all this wonderful growth The shoots tend to go towards the side of the pot and then grow vertically upright And I think this is now in need of a bigger pot So I’m going to repot this into a bigger container What growing in a pot does it stops it spreading If you put this in your border it can be quite invasive It just spreads and runs You can see the character of the plant with these underground um ryomes that grow out and spread out and colonize an area of garden So I think it’s better to grow in a pot if you can And I find it a perfect hardy perennial with beautiful variegated foliage to grow in even a shady part of the garden This will grow beautifully Now today I’m going to pot it up into a terra cotta pot We love terra cotta on our patio This looks good But terra cotta loses a lot of moisture through the sides of the pot So I’m going to line the inside with some just some old bits of uh compost bag which I’ve cut up into strips First thing I do is to put a croc over the I got a drainage hole in the base of the pot So I’m going to cover that with a croc and just put a little layer of gravel in the base just to make sure that it doesn’t get too water logged And I’m going to line the inside of the pot itself with some old bits of compost bag This just stops the compost sitting in direct contact with the pot and stops the roots from drying out The roots will grow outwards but rather than getting very hot and dry in the summer hopefully these will help conserve moisture And as a bog plant this plant really does enjoy those sorts of moist conditions I’m going to put a little bit of fertilizer slow release granular fertilizer in the base of the pot Mix that in Let’s put that in Let’s have a look I need the root ball to sit just below the rim of the pot A little bit more compost in there today And just adjust the height a little bit And then just fill in around with the compost itself Now if you find that some of that black compost bag is showing you can just trim it down with some scissors just to make sure that it sits low But this is about right Just sit in the plant half an inch an inch below the rim of the pot which means that when I’m watering the water will stay in and soak down into the compost itself What I’ll also do in the summer keeping these plants on the patio is to put the pot into a saucer so that I can leave the pot sitting in that nice reservoir of moisture in a saucer during the day That’s exactly what these bog plants want They don’t want to dry out to stay nice and moist So there we are A nice in a pot Last thing is just to water it in Keep it moist Make sure it doesn’t dry out in the summer and you’ll have a nice foliage feature plant This does produce some very very small white flowers as we go through into early summer Not massively significant so I wouldn’t say it’s a plant you’re really growing for its flowers but certainly I think the foliage onto match any hosta Beautiful variegation and a nice little patio feature And any little divisions or bits of roots you find can be potted up like I’ve done here into a smaller pot and grown on And probably next year the roots would have filled this little pot completely and I can pot this up into a bigger container Give it some more space and this will soon grow into as big a feature as my main plant I’ve got several agapanththers in pots growing in my garden and this is probably the biggest I think this variety is called blue giant and you can see why It’s quite a height is in a pot but these stems are probably a good 3 foot plus tall and it’s produced a massive amount of blooms this year I think we got about a dozen flowerheads on it I was actually thinking last year the flowering performance wasn’t quite as good I was even considering knocking out a pot dividing it up and replanting but I’m glad I didn’t because I’ve got this lovely display of flowers Now now these flowerheads can get quite heavy and they can start drooping a little bit as the flowers open and starts to develop but at the moment I haven’t given these any support at all I’m getting a really lovely display of flowers and these are going to provide me with weeks of beautiful flowers as we move through summer Usually they’ll flower and be fully open around about July time I find but they start producing these flowerheads through June Still providing some interest I’ve got some which are nearly open now I’ve got some other buds which are still to come So that means I’m going to get a flowering season extended through that midsummer period putting on a beautiful display to enjoy At the end of the year all I’m going to do is to move this pot to my unheated greenhouse This is a variety of agapanthus that dies down completely So through the winter I’ll stop watering I’ll let the flowers die down I’ll cut the flower stems off I’ll let the leaves die back And sometime during the winter I’ll clear away all of that foliage to make space for the new growth the following spring Let it grow up in my greenhouse move it out onto the patio once the weather conditions have improved usually through May time and then I can look forward to a beautiful summer display Thanks for joining me at Adam’s Gardening Guides Please give this video a thumbs up and subscribe to my channel and I’ll be producing more gardening videos for you very soon