The Year of the Patio Pot
Every year is the Year of the Patio Pot, though the style, requirements, and longevity of the inhabitants can vary considerably! Throughout the months there'll be flowers, foliage, and edibles on the house patios and decking...
Patio Pelargoniums
Edibles : Salad greens do really well for me in pots, as can tomatoes (if they decide to have a 'good year'). I'm a dedicated lettuce and spinach fan - it's so convenient to pop outside quickly and pick some leaves for a salad.
I've tried potatoes in large pots - this has been useful, though the yields haven't been so good. My latest edible pots are full of silver beet (Swiss Chard), which I expect will over-winter well.
Pots for the Patio
Flowers :Pelargoniums are my main pot flowers. These perennials are not frost hardy enough to survive a winter out in the proper garden. The shelter by the house is enough, and then they look after themselves all year.
Spring bulbs often get patio-potted for their first year in my garden. I also love the simple look of daisies in pots - particularly Calendulas, or Chrysanthemums.
Calendulas Flowering
One year I bought some bright yellow Chrysanthemums, which I'm sure were supposed to be for indoors. I squashed them in large patio pots. Yeay! Autumn cheer to enjoy from inside and outside the house. Thanks, girls!
Yellow Chrysanthemums
Foliage :There's always a spiky native New Zealand foliage plant (either a Phormium hybrid, a Cordyline, or an Astelia) in one of my patio pots. Astelias, as an example, seem to like being squashed and snug, and last in the same pot for ages.
Green Astelia
Coloured hybrid Phormiums and Cordylines are not so keen, and usually get released into the garden after three or four years. The beautiful Cordyline variety Red Fountain has been (for me) particularly pot-unhappy.