Hi, Jessamae. If that's the information you received from nursery folk, they were ill-informed ... at best.

The whole forum is full of anecdotes of all manner of perennials (trees are perennials too, and some are kept in containers for hundreds of years!) that we keep happy in containers.

Personally, I have many plants (even aside from trees) that have been containerized for much longer than 10 years. I think you'd do well here (at this forum), listening to folks who will tell you you can, and offer help when able, rather than listening to someone who doesn't have enough experience to know container gardening is fun and productive. ;o)

Al

Phew! Thank you for assuring me I wasn't living in some weird fantasy world:) I was so genuinely confused because I own several books on container gardening, have read this forum, and seen container gardens that are thriving, including my own little one! It was definitely a twilight zone moment :)

I've been growing perennials in pots on my balcony for years. The location is a top-floor (3rd floor) apartment balcony, full southern exposure (sun, wind, rain, etc.) I have currently growing:

- Stella'd'oro daylilies. Growing in a big pot since summer, 2000. They bloom nicely each year, though they may be a bit crowded and don't rebloom much at all.

- "Magnus" purple coneflower. Grows to a good size and blooms well each year - I've had it since summer 2003

- "Sunrise" yellow coneflower. Grows nicely and blooms very well. I've had it since spring 2006.

- "May Night" salvia. Grows nicely and puts on a great display late each spring (in May). I've had it since 2001 or so.

Now, not all plants do great in pots on balconies:

- "Paprika" yarrow. Grows well - too well - and ends up crowded in the pot very quickly, which diminish blooms

- Most bulbs aren't too happy in a pot, at least based on y experiences. The daffodils all rotted, but the grape hyacinths I've had for years (since 2000) and they do well, though I do have to replace some each year. They are in the same pots as the perennials in a ring around the outside edges.

At any rate, one can definitely overwinter perennials in pots. Just give them plenty of drainage so they don't get muddy or iced-up in the winter.

I wonder if the nursery owner is aware that his/her employees are dissuading customers from buying plants. I'm sure they haven't had much luck w/ container gardening and figured it couldn't be done.

You just need to find a better nursery to shop at :-)) Selling plants for permanent container plantings is one of the primary late fall into winter focuses at my nursery. Granted, I live in a milder zone, but as Al has pointed out, ALL sorts of posters to this forum from various areas across the country grow a wide variety of plants in containers on a permanent or at least indefinite basis.

In addition to the typical advice given for container plantings - adequately sized container with sufficient drain holes, good quality potting medium, attention to watering and fertilizing, etc. - your best success with long term container plantings are to select plants that are at hardy to at least one full zone lower than yours - hardy to 2 zones lower is extra insurance. That should not limit you too much in choices of evergreen plant material - boxwoods, Japanese hollies and dwarf conifers are good places to start.

PS. If it can be grown in the ground, it can be grown in a container, provided you allow enough room for proper root development and pay attention to all other cultural needs. There are entire gardens in my area that consist only of container plantings, including scores of in-city rooftop gardens.

hello
anything can be grown in containers, its all about right pot size, fertilizing , water schedule and good potting mix.
I grown over 40 dif cultivars of figs, 30+ of bananas, mangos, dragon fruit, startfruit, over 30 citrus cultivars and all in pot .
some of my figs have been in pots for well over 15 years and IM yet to loose one, so I would say "this woman" at the nursery has no clue what she is talking about.

i container garden here in tampa. i have a nice space set aside with about 10 -12 18" clay pots. i consider this my secret garden. i only use perennials, this way if its really hot out and you can't get to water them right away, they come back easily. This is my favorite garden. the plants are tight together, you can move them around, etc...

This is also my most expensive garden....lol! between the plant, pot and soil, it adds up quickly! but its lots of fun.

i've been doing this for a few years now and have done a tremendous amount of experimenting. but the experimenting makes it part of the fun!

So i guess the bottom line is, have fun with your containers and don't be afraid to experiment.