Few flower questions

sunnyday1234

Hi everyone
Few simple questions for flower growing this year
 Have a few hanging baskets and various other things like small wooden box planter / wheelbarrow planter etc that i want to grow some flowers in this year
Is it possible to plant perennials in this way or is it usually annuals ? Can people recommend some flowers (obviously of the smaller variety) that would look well in this kind of setup ? 
Also i have two garden arches that i would like to grow something on, does anyone know anything about some kind of creeper ?
Thanks for any help

looksee

You can certainly plant perennials in your planters, or herbs or salad greens, bulbs, ferns (in a damp, shady spot). The problem with perennials is that they tend on the whole to have a flowering period and then look less interesting for the rest of the year. If you put in annuals, or plants you treat as annuals, you can have continuous colour. The plants are cheaper and can be regarded as disposable, so you put in new ones two or three times a year.

On the whole, perennials in planters tend to look a bit tired and scruffy after a while - they do need some attention, whereas annuals can be kept fresh and interesting. However you could plant lavender, saxifrages or sedums, geranium (the perennial one, not the summer pelargonium).

Clematis is the obvious suggestion for your arches, though it would be useful to know what kind of size they are - are they large timber ones or the smaller metal ones?

sunnyday1234

Thanks
the arches are metal ones , around 4 feet high 
Clematis looks very good alright, i dont have any soil though under the arch. They are attached to a wall on indian sandstone paving - can i grow these from pots ?

Could you make some suggestions to have color in the boxes and planters for as much of the year as possible using annuals ?

looksee

For summer put in pretty much any of the annuals that will be on sale from about May - petunias or begonias give a good show, then when they have died off in the autumn put in violas, pansies and primulas for flower though the winter. As they die off (probably around now) remove them and drop in some of the little pots of half grown bulbs, cyclamen are good too. The begonia tubers, cyclamen and bulbs can be saved and regrown for the following year if you have space to do it.

Many of the climbers will get too strong for the metal arches, clematis (not Montana) is probably your best bet, or sweet peas for the summer. You will not get as good results from pot grown as ground grown without a lot of attention to the pots. If you put clematis in pots use large pots and line them with some sort of insulation (even bubblewrap would do) round the insides of the pots (not the base) and top dress the pot with gravel to keep the roots cool.

sunnyday1234

ok thanks again
when you say large pots, what size would mean roughly ? If i planted the clematis now, when could i expect some results ? 
Also when you say to drop in some of the little pots of half grown bulbs - if i did this now, would they flower and then replace them in may with the ones you mention above ?

HeidiHeidi

If any of your pots/planters are good and deep, consider putting some daffodil/narcissus bulbs in there, and then plant your annual stuff on top.

I've done this with relatively small window boxes, and every year around this time there's a brilliant showing of cheerful yellow daffs, which I just LOVE.

The only downside is you have to leave them to die off for a few weeks after they've finished flowering, but then I just pull the leaves off and plant all the usual annual summer/autumn colour stuff on top, cyclamen for Christmas, and when they're finished - bingo, more daffs

They've been down the bottom of the windowboxes for years, with absolutely zero maintenance on my part!

looksee

sunnyday1234 wrote: »

ok thanks again
when you say large pots, what size would mean roughly ? If i planted the clematis now, when could i expect some results ? 
Also when you say to drop in some of the little pots of half grown bulbs - if i did this now, would they flower and then replace them in may with the ones you mention above ?

The bigger the better! Maybe 18 inches across the top, but it depends on the shape. A plantpot shaped one would need to be that size while a square, straight-sided one could be a bit smaller (say 15"). If you plant a clematis now you should get some flowers this summer but it would be a couple of years before it was all over the trellis. Some of them are evergreen.

Yes, the little pots of bulbs will flower quickly, though they will not last till May.