I have a shady backyard that I decorate with potted Achimenes each year. I love the Achimenes because I can bring them in before the first frost, put them in the basement and forget about them until spring, when I bring them back out, repot/split them and end up with amazing flowers year after year. I would love to find a plant that behaves like the Achimene, but will thrive in full sun. I'm hoping to find a plant I can put in the basement with the Achimenes each winter. If I leave them in the house, my daughters cat will eat them (it even eats artificial Christmas trees!). Is there a plant that likes full sun, can be brought in and neglected all winter like the Achimenes, and put back out each spring?
Thank you! I googled them and they look really pretty. I think I'm going to try that for a couple of spots. But I should have been more specific. I was needing smaller plants that I can use to in pots on my porch steps and windows boxes. Any ideas? I live in southwestern tip of Indiana ... zone 6.
the flowers are beautiful and, if they have an aroma, it's heavenly! the brugmansia can be grown in pots and then you can prune them back for overwintering and the next spring they'll sprout new growth - which you'll then cut back again the following fall, so you can keep them a reasonable size. they're not winter hardy for us, so, even if you were to plant them in the ground, you'd need to take cuttings and root them over winter to have plants the following year. so, keeping them in containers is just easier for those of us that are in the colder zones! you could always put in some coneflowers...they wouldn't need to be brought in for winter and they will bloom all summer long if you dead head them. about all you'd need to do for winter is put the container somewhere where it's a bit protected from the extreme cold - in a protected corner of the yard or an unheated garage. mums would be workable also...most people pinch them back so they don't bloom until fall...you could let them bloom as they will and deadhead for additional blooms. same treatment to the container for overwintering. for either of those, you'd need to water occassionally if you keep it in the garage...if left outside where it'll get some rain/snow, you wouldn't need to worry about doing that.
I love the coneflowers. Do they come in a dwarf variety? I have wide steps to my porch, so I put a flower pot on both sides of each step and in urns on the pillars. I also hang a couple baskets and have flower in window boxes and in pots on the porch. I'd love to find a flower in a variety of colors that would work well in all those places and over winter inside, completely or semi-neglected. (Not asking for much, am I?) Or ... is there an annual I can grow from seed each year that comes up quickly? I can't start them inside (the cat), so I'd have to wait until April to get them going. I always end up spending so much on flowers each year. I'm looking to still have beautiful flowers out front each year but not have to spend a fortune buying them. I always thought of mums as a fall flower ... do they flower in the summer, too?
I don't think that you can go wrong with geraniums - they look wonderful in the summer and seem to bloom all season. Just bring them in and leave them over winter - in the Spring, they will start again and then you can repot and begin all over again.
i thought i'd responded... i don't know if there are dwarf types of coneflower...could be. there are just about every color available now (single and double blooming), so the next thing to do WOULD be dwarfs. don't know if they're being worked on or not. mums will bloom late summer if you don't pinch them back. what you think of as geranium is actually pelargonium and is not a true geranium. they're a thought, though, and there are quite a few different types now - not just the usual red or pink flowered types. i've grown some with absolutely fabulous variegations on the leaves (flowers were minimal) and they overwintered very well. they can be overwintered inside fairly easily - some unpot them and remove the soil and hang them in the basement and others leave them in the soil and leave it dry (with minimal watering every 6 weeks or so). you could also do true geranium which is hardy and likes shady spots - cranesbill types come in a variety of colors from whites, to pinks, to purples. they aren't very tall-growing - maybe about a foot and half; they do spread out nicely though. they can be left outside over winter, too. i'd just do something to protect the container - either bury it or wrap it well with blankets. stonecrop sedum would be something else that could be left in the container and left outside for winter - they bloom in late summer/fall. they do best when in full sun yet will still do well in part shade and some of the newest varieties do better in more shady conditions. one thing you could do that is nice in planters is sweet potato vine...comes in a variety of colors both solid and variegated. i've not seen any of mine flower - just get plenty of vine and leaves. they over winter fabulously!! and you can even take cuttings and root them even though you've got the tuber sitting downstairs in the basement. if you do cuttings, they drink a TON of water, so use a large container and make sure to check it every week! portulaca aka moss rose is a wonderful plant that blooms ALL season long from late spring to mid fall and even late fall if the temps are still pretty warm (and you don't need to deadhead to get reblooming either). it does best in full sun (really spreads out) and does well enough in semi-shady spots to make it worthwhile. it's an annual that reseeds quite easily without assistance and you can even collect seed pods before they burst to make sure you have some for next year - start inside early or just put them under a light covering of soil once the soil is warm enough.
Thank you for all your suggestions. I'll get to work studying which will work best. Thank you so much ... you have been very helpful!!
