That Lily is gorgeous!

I had to pull all of mine….blasted Lily beetle kept visiting 😡

Lovely. Where do you out them in winter?

Thanks @GardenHo_MI_Z5,

This is the only oriental lily we own and so far, for the past 2.5 seasons we have had it, there have been no issue with beetles...fingers crossed.

@callirhoe123 I wheel the pot and plant into an uninsulated garage in late October or maybe even early November.

Rouge, I continue to be amazed and impressed at the vibrancy and robustness of your containerized plantings. You obviously spend a lot of time tending to them. Mine do not look a quarter as healthy or floriferous as yours. Well done!

Too kind 'gg'.

I have several potted perennials that are looking crappy. In particular all of my containerized Butterfly Bushes have been eaten alive :(. Im thinking it is earwigs at night.

Yes GG Rouge has lots of potted beauties, I agree!

I was just going to post a few of my potted perennials and mention my butterfly bush has been eaten by insects… and I see yours has been hit too! So maddening😡

Ay caramba @GardenHo_MI_Z5!

(Love especially the purple with grey/silver)

Thanks Rouge I really like that one too. I initially planned on potting up all Hostas for this area but then thought I needed some color. Ended up going little overboard 🥴

Ended up going little overboard

No such thing when we are talking about gardening :)

I love your color sense!

Turn pots on side during the winter so they do not gather water and succomb to the freeze and thaw cycle => cracked pots with freeze and thaw.

ask me how I know.

Such pretty pots! I am having a heck of a time with no rain to speak of for weeks. I tend to use one plant in each pot, so I can create a mixed combination by moving pots around. Works well especially when something doesn't do too well at some point. Your hydrangea and lily are simply spectacular.

GardenHo, your pots are wonderful, too. I especially love the soft greens, purples and greys!

Aralia "Sun King":

"Halcyon" hosta with some yellow Johnny Jump-Ups (pic from prior year; looks pretty much the same this year sans Jump-Ups):

Wow, such beautiful pots everyone! GardenHo that purple and silvery heuchera combination is stunning!

I mostly just have annuals in pots on my patio. I do have about ten to 12 pots with perennials and shrubs but they are waiting to be planted in their permanent home for a few reasons - too hot to plant, my procrastination, waiting for the electric company to remove some trees that are growing into the power lines, my procrastination, my indecision as to exactly where I want to plant them, my procrastination, new vole activity that I am trying to deal with, my procrastination....

I'm sensing a theme here! But don't be too judgmental - I used to have over 250 pots in my pot ghetto, which I would drag into the garage each winter or shelter in some way. I finally got my act in gear and through finally planting, giving some to other gardeners, and loss, I am now down to my dozen pots. And lol, funny enough, any loss was NOT due to winter. I rarely lost any plants over winter. It was usually some form of neglect/issue during the growing season. I lost a LOT of roses. Just couldn't get them to successfully grow in pots. That made me stop growing roses for about 15 years but I'm slowly dipping my toe back into the rosewater.

So to those of you who have your perennials in pots, do you have to unpot every few years to divide or somehow accommodate large plants? In other words, do your plantings outgrow the pots?

What do you pot-growers (heh heh) use for medium? I've read so much about Al's mix but it seems like so much work and I have so little time in the garden. Do you use straight-up potting mix out of the bag or do you have a recipe that works for you?

Rouge how long has that aralia been in that pot? I'm considering one for a partially shady garden in my daughter's yard and have been wavering because I don't know if it will fit. But perhaps in a pot it can live there at least till her hydrangeas mature.

And your lily is spectacular! I've got those darn beetles too so no more lilies for me. And if you keep posting that Early Evolution I will be compelled to go get one. I've already got my car keys in my hand and one foot out the door since your last post about them lol!

:)

Dee

The Aralia has been in the pot maybe 5 years now; I don't think it's been 6 but I don't remember. The ones in the beds are much larger.

Love your ASK in a container @porkchop_z5b_MI. I'm curious....what led you to putting such a plant in a pot? (When you have time can you let me know the dimensions of the pot please?)

oops, sorry mxk - I thought it was rouge with the potted aralia! Thanks for answering though. That's encouraging - and interesting that is has stayed smaller but still looks fabulous, not at all like it's struggling or not pleased with it's living arrangements lol. I'm definitely going to look into placing a potted one in my daughter's garden.

:)

Dee

Phlox paniculata does well in a container for me (as long as the container isn't too small) and is long blooming for a perennial. This is a seedling descendant of 'Peppermint Twist'. The color is like the species but it stays a little shorter and has never gotten mildew. It starts blooming around mid June and will bloom until frost. I just stuck it in this container for lack of a better place to put it and I'm not very good at tossing unwanted plants. I've gotten various colors from the seedlings and I wasn't going for this color but kept it anyway.

There are seedlings coming up in the container that I should remove. I think it would bloom heavier if I did. I also stuck some vinca in there and sweet potato vine.

"I'm curious....what led you to putting such a plant in a pot? (When you have time can you let me know the dimensions of the pot please?) "

I put it in the pot because I had to move it from a spot where it was struggling (too sunny and dry) and had nowhere else to put it.

There is a plastic pot inside the clay pot. It's about 15", give or take (straight edge isn't on center in the pic).

and had nowhere else to put it.

And I bet this is the reason 90% of the time as to why one plunks a perennial permanently into a pot!

It is cool how a plant that can easily grow to 5 feet across and about the same in width can often adapt just fine to such a small container. (Although I bet that your potted ASK "asks" you for water lots?)

"Although I bet that your potted ASK "asks" you for water lots?"

No, not really. It's in bright shade in a rich medium (50% quality topsoil + 50% peat-based potting mix). I water it with the hand wand maybe every 3rd or 4th time I water the potted annuals on the patio.

"Rocketmann" (Russian Sage):

Rouge is your Grand cascade blooming? Mine has a few blooms starting despite the insect damage. Although I must say it looks quite pitiful as I trimmed off all the damaged foliaged…Better hopes for next year!

You must be psychic @GardenHo_MI_Z5! Just now, probably as you were posting I was "dealing" with this 'brute'. To make a long story short I needed to move it, pot and all, to another location before it flowers out. It is root bound, requiring water every day and like yours it has foliage damage. I am tempted to shovel prune it as I struggle to move it with my "plant dolly" but the cascading blooms that happen later kind of makes me forget about its shortcomings.

"GH", in my location it wont be in proper bloom for another month. It does look its best until early SEPTEMBER! (Another reason to boot it out!)

Okay "GH", I want to see yours!

How big is the pot you have it in?

Its raining now so I’ll have to get a pic later. I may wait until the blooms open more since its so pitiful looking now lol.

despite the insect damage.

So @GardenHo_MI_Z5 I forget now what we "decided" as to the cause of each of our insect damage. I am almost certain it is from earwigs. And I have made a note for next year to put our the tin traps well before there is an obvious problem.

Here is another of our BB's, picture taken yesterday...yuck!

Here it is Rouge. Pretty good size since starting at about 3”…although aliitle beat up and naked from all the downpours and foliage trimming. (glad I caged it)

(That pot is bigger than it looks)

Wow, you are way ahead of me in terms of flowering. You can see how large my Cascade is and yet as I mentioned it is about a month away from having legit blooms.

Yes that is surprising Rouge as you seem to be alittle ahead of me in other plants….

And @GardenHo_MI_Z5, speaking of BB, here is permanently potted "Prince Charming" in bloom:

All else being equal i.e. the same or similar volume, are they any circumstances when there might be advantage(s) having a larger diameter pot vs a taller/deeper container or is there nothing to choose between them?

Hey @GardenHo_MI_Z5 I thought of you today looking at our potted "Cascade":