Hi I have a patio where I potted lots of plants last spring they all almost died this year?

what are the best plants to plant all year around I love greens and flowers My patio get some sun in the after noon and early mornings rest of the day its shaded . before the spring starts I want to start planting. I use moisture control potting mix. Any suggestions how to save my plants from dieing and keep them fresh all year round . I would also like to plant some fruits and vegetables which can grow in pots and what kind .


Moreover all my pots are made of clay and some are plastic and ceramic. which are best for best air circulation and I use plastic sheets at the bottom of my pots so my potting mix do not flow out when I water them. I also have some decorative metal pots how do I plant in them they are like nets. Your suggestions are greatly appreciated. thank you .

Hi I have a patio where I potted lots of plants last spring they all almost died this year?
First-- choose flowers and veggies, fruits that suit your Sun exposure. Place them where they will be protected from wind or else you can put them on those little plastic dollies so you can move them in wind storms (I use a furniture dolly,I put a bunch of pot's on it and you never notice the dolly,it has a fold down handle and works perfect). For pot's terracotta pots are best, they insulate and breath! A Wood pot is also good, like a "Whisky barrel" a Tin pot is really cute to look at, but it rusts, rots, and can get too hot and cold. Be sure to put gravel or stones, broken clay-pot pieces in the bottom of the pots for drainage. Then use good quality potting soil and I add Moss of any kind or "Perlite", (those little styrofoam bits sold for that purpose) to help retain moisture and insulate roots. The plants you lost last year may have frozen over winter. All but the thickest wine barrel pots, are not thick enough to withstand a heavy freeze and even they allow roots to freeze some years. So this year bring perennials inside for winter, just don't water much, then put them out again in the Spring after frost danger is gone. You can raise tomato's in pots, just put the tall wire tomato cage in the pot before you plant the seeds or seedling. Otherwise you break so much trying to fit the vine into the cage later! Try to have a post on the patio that you can put a bolt in; this is to tie the tomato cage to for support, as the plant will pull itself out of the pot if it topples over, cage and all! So use a 5 gal. pot or even a bucket, for the tomato. If you plant any other "vine" veggies or flowering plants make sure you affix the trellis to a post (walls draw to much heat)otherwise the plant will pull the trellis and it'self out of the pot! Peppers can be planted in pots with flowers all together! A Zucchini plant, just one! Can have pansy's planted all around the edge of the pot, or plant Rosemary herb, that hangs down. You have lots of options and they look so pretty all together in the pot! Just don't over crowd to much! Strawberries are great in a wire basket with a plastic bag liner, don't forget to pierce holes for drainage in the plastic, or the plant will rot! Then add a coconut hair mat over the plastic and add moss mixed with potting soil, put the strawberry plants in, 3 is good and watch them grow!(Use the plastic, cause otherwise the water runs out so fast!) Hanging berries are really pretty! You can poke a hole through the plastic liner and the coconut matting in your hanging wire net baskets;and have a petunia grow out the bottom of the basket with the berries growing over the top! Just take care pokeing the hole, not to big, insert the roots of the pettunia,then push some moss around the bottom to make sure it doesn't fall out. Put all your pot's on a 6" raised board supported by bricks, this gives air circulation which keeps the plants from cooking on the hot patio tile or wood deck. You can also make another bench 12" and you will have a tiered effect. If plants are backed againest a wall they can burn or wilt- unless it's a shaded area. The retained heat or even- reflection of heat off a wall,(if placed very close)can do this. Hope that gives some help. Have fun!
Reply:No wonder they die. First off Get rid of the plastic pots. You need to match the remaining ceramic/clay pot to the size of your plants. NEVER use plastic to line a planter. Gravel/stone of different sizes is the best. And that planting soil combined with the plastic just adds up as you drown the plants.


Get yourself the largest planters, ceramic/clay, you can afford. If room allows, make two evergreen, two annual, and one your fruit planting. Place the fruit in center, with the evergreens surrounding and the annuals at the exterior. Raise them off the surface by any means that is appealing to you.


The bottom of each planter should have at least a full two to three inches of stone. Each planter should also have weep holes for excessive water. The soil mixture should match the plantings you make. The annuals need only regular topsoil. The evergreens may need a combination of topsoil and an acidic miricle-grow soil. The Fruit Tree depends on the tree.


Plant the annuals you like and hope for the best. For evergreen planters I suggest you place creeping cotoneaster on the outside of the planter and a topiary evergreen such as a blue spruce or norway spruce in the center. The fruit tree you wish can be found in many cataloges. There are many dwarft varieties on the market, including, one that produces various varities of apples on one tree. Good Luck
Reply:I need to know where you live.
Reply:I have almost similar kind of garden like you do.Impatients, calladium, lilly of valley are good choices.I have had sucess with kalanchoe,some simple leafy plants from my local dollar store,begonia
Reply:I have had some good success with pumpkin, though it my grow to long for a small patio. Beans, Water Melon, Chillies %26amp; Capsicum. All grown from seeds. Peas late Autumn. Water every night after sunset. Plants keep most of their moisture at this time. Feed each quater with good plant food. I have had no problems with plastic pots. However I use a mixture of Blood %26amp; Bone, Potting mix with Cow manue. Let the water drain through and out the bottom of the pot. It sounds like your drowning your plants. Good luck. Dav from Australia.