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need potted plant recommendation

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Posted by gibby3000 MN (My Page) on
Wed, May 14, 14 at 13:24

Hi - I'm usually on the home side of this forum but have a question I need advice on. I have a weekend lake place in central Minnesota with several pots on the deck. The challenge is we aren't there during the week to water, etc. I did get some self watering pots that seemed to help somewhat. So I'm wondering what would work in a location that's fairly shady but does get hot afternoon sun.

For years I had impatiens and that was lovely. However with the loss of some trees it seemed to become too hot and sunny for them. I tried geraniums at least once and fertilized the heck out of them per a friends advice who has beautiful potted geraniums. Mine were not so lovely. Then I tried Wave petunias and they were okay for a while but seemed to have trouble probably due to inability to water frequently enough I think. They'd be wilted when I got there on Friday and perk up after watering but eventually I think it took a toll and they were kind of spindly.

Any ideas what would work in this situation? I do want something that's colorful and blooming, not just green.

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RE: need potted plant recommendation

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Portulaca?

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RE: need potted plant recommendation

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I think you might be looking in the wrong place...think perennial, not annual plants. That is where you will find the most drought-tolerant. I would suggest Centaurea (Bachelor's Buttons). They adapt well to pots, are available in a variety of colors and, in my opinion, are simply very pretty. They will also tolerate full sun to partial shade and are a perennial down to zone 3. You may even be able to overwinter your potted plants with a little bit of protection. Hope this helps. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Bachelor's Buttons

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RE: need potted plant recommendation

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Thanks for the advice. I've never had moss roses but maybe that would be worth a try. I've never planted perennials in a pot, only in the ground so I guess that's worth a try to if I can find something that blooms all summer. I have a nice book on Minnesota perennials so I'll take a closer look at that with pots in mind. I remember my mom having bachelor buttons in her garden when I was a kid and I liked them. I don't think I've seen them around since but I'm not around a lot of gardens.

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RE: need potted plant recommendation

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Angelonia! It's a tender perennial grown as an annual in all but the warmest locations. This sun loving perennial blooms non-stop until frost, needs no deadheading, loves the heat. The size is more than 24x24 fully grown....which it achieves pretty quickly.

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RE: need potted plant recommendation

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I second both portulaca and Angelonia. You might want to check into echinacea. The new Cheyenne Spirit is supposed to repeat bloom all season without deadheading. I am growing it for the first time this year. Salvias are an all summer bloomer that don't mind heat or some drought. It would be hard to beat Victoria or Mystic Spires. You could also try Vinca. They are tough too. Of all these on the list, portulaca is the most drought tolerant of all in my experience.

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Thanks so much for your advice. Just reporting back that I planted the portulaca. I never paid much attention to this plant because of its spindly looking stem/leave but when I got it today I realized it is quite pretty. So we'll see how this works.

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Hope it does!

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Hope it works for you. I like the portulaca because of its flowers (as you said, I also agree that it looks quite pretty), as well as the fact that it makes long trailing stems that are just perfect for trimming and sticking it in the ground or another pot somewhere to make more portulaca plants.

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