8 Best Plants For Patio Pots if You Want Maximum Flowers For Minimum Effort – These Perennials are as Low Maintenance as They are Lovely
Yes, you can fill your patio with wonderful color, year after year, without having to water every day.
Enjoying fabulous patio pots that flower all summer long doesn’t have to be hard work. Just choose the right drought-tolerant plants and looking after them won’t interfere with your precious R&R garden time. All our recommended plants are low maintenance perennials, too, so they’ll return year after year with minimal care.
While it’s true that plants growing in pots typically need more nurturing than those in the ground, there are a few tricks to container gardening to set yourself up for lush results without breaking a sweat. For a start, choose a large container: the more potting soil there is, the more moisture it will hold and so last longer between waterings, and the less it will be affected by extremes of temperature or weather.
Next, throw a couple of handfuls of pebbles into the base of the pot. Any small stones will do – and if you don’t have a gravel driveway to poach then a sample pack from a building supply store is the cheapest option. These pebbles will stop the planter drainage hole getting blocked and prevent roots sitting in waterlogged soil.
Using a moisture control potting soil such as this from Amazon protects potted plants against over- and under-watering by absorbing excess water then releasing it slowly. This will guard against disasters if you're an erratic waterer. If you’re filling a big container, then you can save money but still achieve a similar effect by mixing coconut coir such as this from Amazon into a regular potting mix. Coconut fiber expands up to eight times its size when soaked, so it’ll help smooth out moisture levels on the days you don’t get round to watering.
And then it’s all down to selecting plants that naturally thrive in well-drained conditions and have a tolerant nature as well as a will to produce abundant blooms. Of course you’ll still need to water them, but they’ll forgive you for forgetting for a few days, and keep you in flowers all summer without sulking. As these are all perennial plants, you'll also need to refresh the top layer of potting soil every spring.
By choosing a perennial plant as the centerpiece of a planter, you can then easily tuck in a few annual plants around the edges for extra color. Any plants that do well in a hanging basket will thrive in a container and, if your planter is big enough, why not add a hanging basket trailer to cascade over the pot rim too? Then you’ve hit the patio-pot jackpot of thriller, filler and spiller, with hardly any effort!
Ready? Let’s get your patio pots looking fabulous…
1. Agapanthus
Agapanthus, also commonly called Lily of the Nile and African lily, bloom far more profusely in pots than they do in the ground, as in a constricted space they prioritise flowers over foliage. May is the perfect time to add them to your garden, ready to flower through June, July and August.
These perennials love good drainage so mix a few handfuls of poultry grit into the potting soil, ensuring you buy grit made from crushed granite and not oyster shells – you’ll find it at farm supply stores or it’s available from Amazon.
Blue Lily of the Nile, available from Fast Growing Trees, is only hardy in zones 7–11, but the beauty of growing agapanthus in a pot is that you can easily move it into a sheltered, frost-free spot for winter. This is an eye-catching plant with its clusters of flowers atop strong stems but, for even more drama, try ‘Black Pantha’, available from Burpee. It has almost-black buds that open to dark violet-blue blooms. Both eventually grow up to three feet tall.
2. Anouk Lavender
Every patio should bathe in the relaxing scent of a lavender plant, and Lavandula stoechas ‘Anouk’ is a perfect choice for a pot. This drought-tolerant perennial thrives in full sun and loves to have its roots restricted, producing showy flowers topped with butterfly-like bracts. Compact and evergreen, its aromatic silvery-grey foliage is pretty year-round, too.
Though it’s considered hardy in zones 7–9, by growing ‘Anouk’ in a pot you can extend your options by moving it to a sheltered spot before temperatures fall. There are a few varieties to choose from, all reaching around 18 inches high, depending on your color preference. ‘Purple Flare’ has the deepest flower color, through ‘Dark Purple’ to ‘Deep Rose’ with lighter spikes; all are available from Fast Growing Trees.
3. Gaura
This perennial is a wonderful addition to a group of patio pots, with tall, slender stems smothered in small flowers that draw clouds of butterflies. Gaura sways in the slightest breeze, adding movement, and has a chameleon-like ability to look stylishly nonchalant in a modern backyard yet full of charm in a more relaxed cottage garden.
In a sunny spot, Gaura flowers from June all through summer, and often well into fall, and enjoys the quick-draining conditions of a large container.
There are plenty of varieties to choose from, and all have the same airy habit and are suitable for zones 5–9, in various combinations from white to deep pink. ‘Gambit Rose’ is the darkest with pink flowers on maroon stems, and also the most compact, growing to 20 inches, and plants are available from Burpee. ‘Rosy Jane’ is also available from Burpeeand has pretty white petals with pink picotee edges and grows to 24” tall, while the pink and white petals of ‘Siskiyou Pink’ are more painterly – this is a little taller, too, and is available from Garden Goods Direct. ‘Whirling Butterflies’ has pink buds that open to white and can reach 3 feet in a pot, and is also available from Garden Goods Direct.
4. Cat’s Pajamas Catmint
Catmint is an easy-going drought-tolerant perennial, and ‘Cat’s Pajamas’ is a compact cultivar that’s especially suitable for container growing. Reaching 1–2 feet tall and a foot wide, its indigo-purple flowers last from late spring to late summer. This is a variety from Proven Winners so you can safely buy a plant via Amazon.
If you’re a cat parent, then catmint is a must for your patio. While it’s not as intoxicating as catnip (Nepeta cataria), catmint is still beloved by cats who like to rub against the aromatic leaves and stems. This variety is pretty robust though, so don’t worry it'll get squashed.
Nepeta ‘Cat’s Pajamas’ needs great drainage so raise your container on pot risers such as these from Amazon through fall and winter.
5. Dianthus
Here’s another low maintenance plant that will bloom all summer in a pot for very little effort. And if you think of Dianthus as an old-fashioned plant, think again! All sorts of modern varieties now offer incredible fragrance and abundant showy flowers while retaining the easy-going nature of their forebears. With flowers growing 6–18 inches high and naturally forming a mound of foliage, they make for pretty little pots. Most Dianthus are evergreen or semi-evergreen, maintaining their attractive blue- or gray-tinged foliage through winter, too.
The Dianthus Scent First series is a great example of modern breeding with fabulous double flowers – ‘Coral Reef’ is a standout variety as the white edges to its coral-pink petals accentuate the frilly effect. It’s suitable for zones 5–9 and is available from Jackson & Perkins.
EverBloom is another super series to look out for which, as the name suggest, flowers for months on end. ‘Plum Glory’ has a particularly pretty mix of colors and pinking-shear petals and grows well in zones 3–9; it’s available from Nature Hills.
6. Compact Hybrid Tea Rose
As a general rule, roses don’t like to live in pots because they have long roots that like to stretch out. Of course, there are miniature and patio roses, but if you want big blooms, then look out for a compact hybrid tea rose cultivar that’s been bred for life in a container. A variety that’s marketed as good for beginners is an especially good bet, as it’s highly likely to be very tolerant of a wide range of growing conditions.
‘Parfuma Bliss’, available from Jackson & Perkins, would be my pick. It’s a bushy shrub, only growing to 2–3 feet high and wide, yet has 3-4 inch blooms, each with up to 120 apricot petals and a heady fruity-vanilla perfume. It has glossy dark green leaves and blooms in flushes all through summer.
Give your hybrid tea the biggest pot you can afford, remembering that rose roots like to spread out rather than dive deep, so a cube planter such as this corten steel box from Amazon works well. A container with a base that’s as wide as the rim also brings stability for a bigger plant that may catch the wind.
This is one plant you'll have to remember to water if you want it to keep on blooming – perhaps every day in the heat of the summer – but the reward of those fragrant flowers will easily make the effort worthwhile.
7. Gaillardia
If you want patio drama without having to put in much effort, blanket flower is the stunner to fill your patio pots. Its daisy-shape flowers appear in June and, as long as you keep deadheading, carry on coming till the first frost. ‘Arizona Sun’ is native to North America so it’s remarkably heat- and drought-tolerant, and its wonderfully fiery red and yellow flowers don’t fade in the sun.
Suitable for zones 3–9 and available from Garden Goods Direct, it does best with fewer nutrients so don’t feed this workhorse – you’re better off refreshing the top layer of soil every year to keep it blooming well.
8. Coreopsis
Tickseed is a cheerful bloomer that loves good drainage so it does well in containers, and flowers all through summer from June to September in a sunny spot. Though it only reaches 18 inches tall, it’s fast-growing and vigorous so quickly fills a pot. Coreopsis can be annual or perennial so, if you want a patio pot that’ll last for years to come, do read the plant label or online description. While it’s straightforward to grow from seed, May is a little late to be sowing perennial Coreopsis for flowers this summer, so best to buy a plant.
‘Moonbeam’ is a tough, reliable perennial coreopsis, with buttery-yellow flowers that butterflies love; plants are available from Burpee and are hardy in zones 3–9. Another perennial that’s excellent for a container is ‘Mercury Rising’ with velvety wine-red petals tipped with white. Though it’s a similar height to ‘Moonbeam’, it spreads up to 36 inches and naturally forms a mound, so looks great in a wide bowl planter such as this from Amazon. The other advantage this variety has is that it’s sterile, which means it doesn’t produce seeds so doesn’t need deadheading to keep blooming all summer. It’s suitable for zones 5–9 and is also available from Burpee.
