Chris is a gardening writer and nature enthusiast. He graduated from Oxford Brookes University in 2022 with an MA in Psychology. Chris works with the Leeds Green Action Society, helping their food cooperative by growing various fruit and vegetables on their two allotments in Hyde Park, Leeds.
Reviewed By PETER LICKORISH
Peter is a Horticulture Lecturer and self-employed Horticulturist, with a passion for diverse areas of the industry - from garden design to the science behind plant growth and propagation. He has completed the Royal Horticultural Society’s Master of Horticulture (MHort) Award and lectures on RHS courses at Bedford College.
Contributions From SUNIL PATEL
Sunil is the owner and curator of the garden at 13 Broom Acres, which is open to the public during the summer months under the National Garden Scheme. He has also published a book, ‘A Year In A Small Garden’, about the changes over the course of a year in his garden.
Sally Flatman is the host and creator of the 'Our Plant Stories' podcast. She is a former BBC Radio producer and has received an RHS Level 2 Certificate in the Principles of Horticulture from Capel Manor College.
IN THIS GUIDE
- Situating Your Plants
- Hardy Plants For Pots
- 1) Bay Tree
- 2) Hebe ‘Pink Elephant’
- 3) Geraniums
- 4) Heather
- Perennial Plants For Containers
- 5) Peruvian Lily
- 6) Lavender
- 7) Canna Lily
- Evergreen Plants For Pots
- 8) Temu
- 9) Round-Leaved Mint Bush
- 10) Tawhiwhi
- Tall Plants For Pots
- 11) Bamboo
- 12) Thuja
- 13) Bougainvillea
- Best Plants For Pots In Full Sun
- 14) Pieris ‘Prelude’
- 15) Little Linda
- 16) Eternal Fragrance
- Shade-Friendly Plants For Pots
- 17) Plantain Lily
- 18) Creeping Jenny
- 19) Trailing Lobelia
- Best Flowering Plants For Pots
- 20) Lily Of The Nile
- 21) Rose ‘Munstead Wood’
- 22) Yakushima Rhododendron
- 23) Begonia
- 24) African Daisy
- 25) Fuchsia
- 26) African Marigold
- 27) Dahlias
- Top Of The Pots
You’ve bought a bunch of pots for plants, ready to put your green fingers to work and bring a vibrant green flourish to your home.
But maybe you’re wondering which plants are best for those pots?
This is a question with surprisingly varied answers: “the best” depends on what you’re trying to do, for starters.
Are you looking for plants for pots in full sun, or for shade-loving plants for containers?
Are you looking for flowering plants for pots, or something evergreen to guarantee colour year-round?
Whatever pot-based needs you’re aiming to meet, we’ve written this guide to point you in the direction of the best plants to help you get there.
“Because of my own background, I started with growing in pots, I’ve made sure that pots are my focus,” shares Our Plant Stories’ Sally Flatman.
“Most plants can be grown in pots even if this isn’t forever.”
Don’t be put off by pot growing.
Situating Your Plants
The great outdoors is the best place for plants.
It’s where they belong, and the conditions are most often right for them to thrive.
“I think the secret is to figure out the conditions of where the pot will be (sun or shade, exposed or sheltered) and then find plants to suit,” shares Sunil Patel who owns the garden at 13 Broom Acres.
“Plants that remain exclusive to pots in the garden are those that we need to move into a greenhouse or even indoors for winter protection.
“Among these are a Strelitzia (Bird of Paradise), lemongrass and lots of various sedums and succulents.”
If you’re looking for plants to fill your outdoor space – whether it’s a garden, a balcony, a patch of pavement, or anything in between – we’ve got you covered.
In the sections below we’ll explore the most commonly requested types of plants for outdoor pots, then give our favourite recommendations for each.
This list is not exhaustive!
You have tons of options for outdoor plants, so if you don’t find something you like here, keep looking.
Hardy Plants For Pots
These hardy plants are those that can hold their own in low temperatures.
And let’s face it: In the UK, where our weather flits between one extreme and another, hardy plants are a good bet.
1) Bay Tree
- BOTANICAL NAME: Laurus nobilis
- PLANT TYPE: TREE
- HARDINESS RATING: H4-5
- PREFERRED ASPECT: FULL SUN OR PART SHADE; SHELTERED
If you’ve ever found an entire leaf in your curry, that was most likely bay leaf.
The fragrant flavour is commonplace in kitchens, and the plant makes a welcome addition to any British garden.
Bay grows in pots or shaped containers like troughs and similar.
It responds to pruning, and can be shaped if you’re interested in topiary.
This plant has a hardiness rating of H4-5 depending on where it’s grown – it will be less hardy in a container than it would be in the ground, and will fare slightly better in sheltered positions.
When cultivating a bay tree in a container, it likes a soil-based compost with grit for drainage.
You only need to water moderately, and you can apply liquid fertiliser fortnightly between May and September.
Repotting every two years helps this plant to thrive – aim to do that in spring.
2) Hebe ‘Pink Elephant’
- BOTANICAL NAME: Hebe ‘Pink Elephant’
- PLANT TYPE: SHRUB
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- PREFERRED ASPECT: FULL SUN; SHELTERED
Creamy pinks and greens give this hardy evergreen an intriguing and alluring visual appeal.
We love plants with unusual palettes, and we recommend this compact Hebe to any budding gardener.
The ‘Pink Elephant’ has a hardiness rating of H4.
3) Geraniums
- BOTANICAL NAME: GERANIUM
- PLANT TYPE: PERENNIAL
- HARDINESS RATING: H7
- PREFERRED ASPECT: ANY
“Of the hardy Geraniums, one with attractive dark foliage, called G. pratense ‘Storm Cloud’, is relatively upright to suit a container,” shares Master Horticulturist Peter Lickorish.
“Some are more sprawling and better suited for use as ground cover.”
4) Heather
- BOTANICAL NAME: Calluna vulgaris
- PLANT TYPE: SHRUB
- HARDINESS RATING: H7
- PREFERRED ASPECT: FULL SUN
Perennial Plants For Containers
Perennials come back year after year, meaning that once you’ve added them to your garden, you can enjoy them for a good amount of time.
They’re perfect for gardeners who want to kick back and enjoy their outdoor space, without the pressure of planting out a new batch of plants every season.
Thankfully, there are plenty of perennials that grow well in pots and containers.
Here are a couple of our favourites:
5) Peruvian Lily
- BOTANICAL NAME: Alstroemeria aurea
- PLANT TYPE: HERBACEOUS PERENNIAL
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- PREFERRED ASPECT: FULL SUN OR PART SHADE; SHELTERED
A mainstay in British gardens, and a plant with modern varieties to put exciting new twists on the traditional.
Offering a rainbow of red, orange, yellow, pink, or white, the Peruvian Lily is a great choice for any gardener.
Some varieties – including ‘Sonata’, ‘Friendship’, ‘Spitfire’, ‘Tessa’, and more – have received the RHS Award of Garden Merit, marking them as particularly well suited to gardens in our fair country.
Alstroemeria also makes for great cuttings if you want to grow new plants indoors, or give them as gifts.
A truly versatile plant.
6) Lavender
- BOTANICAL NAME: Lavandula
- PLANT TYPE: PERENNIAL SHRUB
- HARDINESS RATING: H5
- PREFERRED ASPECT: FULL SUN; SHELTERED
Who doesn’t love lavender? We’ll be honest, this is one of our favourite plants ever.
The mind-blowing spectrum of pinks and purples it brings, the unmistakable and enchanting scent, and the fact that bees can’t resist it.
All these factors combine to make lavender a rewarding and beautiful addition to any garden.
“For many plants, including lavender, planting into a pot more than three times the root-ball size could cause the compost to sit too damp and eventually the plant may rot,” says Peter.
“Therefore, I generally stick to pots no more than twice the size of the original rootball. A wider pot can provide good anchorage for taller plants.”
7) Canna Lily
- BOTANICAL NAME: Canna
- PLANT TYPE: PERENNIAL
- HARDINESS RATING: H3
- PREFERRED ASPECT: FULL SUN; SHELTERED
Evergreen Plants For Pots
Evergreens are the best plants for pots all year round.
Their foliage remains visually interesting throughout the year, and they don’t require replanting or replacing next season.
8) Temu
- BOTANICAL NAME: Luma apiculata
- PLANT TYPE: SHRUB
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- PREFERRED ASPECT: ANY
This evergreen shrub sports attractive white flowers in summer and autumn, with purple berries at the end of its flowering season.
It’s received the RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM), signifying its compatibility with UK growing conditions.
So if you’re looking for an evergreen that will thrive in pots in your garden, luma is a good bet.
In fact, luma is noted for its suitability for city courtyards, which may trap its sweet fragrance, and gardens, where your plant choices may be limited to those that can grow in containers.
This plant will keep growing for years to come, sometimes taking up to fifty years to reach its full height.
9) Round-Leaved Mint Bush
- BOTANICAL NAME: Prostanthera rotundifolia
- PLANT TYPE: SHRUB
- HARDINESS RATING: H2
- PREFERRED ASPECT: FULL SUN; SHELTERED
This evergreen shrub has lovely purple flowers punctuating its aromatic green leaves.
It’s evergreen, but not as hardy as some other evergreens.
For this reason it’s recommended to take it indoors over winter.
10) Tawhiwhi
- BOTANICAL NAME: Pittosporum tenuifolium
- PLANT TYPE: SHRUB
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- PREFERRED ASPECT: FULL SUN OR PART SHADE; SHELTERED
This attractive evergreen with creamy-green leaves and a faint honey-scent will grow well in containers.
Tall Plants For Pots
Sometimes plants in pots serve more than just aesthetic roles.
They’re great for portable privacy screens in overlooked gardens or anywhere else you might feel a bit exposed.
Here are some tall plants for pots in your garden that will provide privacy and look lovely.
11) Bamboo
- BOTANICAL NAME: INCLUDES PHYLLOSTACHYS NIGRA
- PLANT TYPE: PERENNIAL
- HARDINESS RATING: H5
- PREFERRED ASPECT: SHELTERED
This plant is renowned as one of the fastest-growing in the world, and with good reason.
Planting out bamboo in containers can give you a tall screen for privacy in just a couple of years.
Buy an already-established bamboo plant for your container, and you can be behind its natural screen even quicker.
As well as helping with privacy, bamboo is a generally striking plant.
It brings a nuanced visual to outdoor spaces and harkens to oriental settings.
Paired with the right plants – or perhaps some nice fairy lights – bamboo can make an enchanting and exotic haven out of any outdoor area.
12) Thuja
- BOTANICAL NAME: Thuja
- PLANT TYPE: TREE (CONIFER)
- HARDINESS RATING: H7
- PREFERRED ASPECT: FULL SUN
These evergreen trees can grow up to 60m high, in the right conditions.
Obviously, a container in your garden probably won’t provide those conditions, but they are known for their stature and density nonetheless, both of which are properties conducive to privacy in your garden.
“If I had to pick only one, I would go for Thuja occidentalis ‘Pyramidalis Aurea’ for its golden colour and conical shape, but you could make a collection of different Thuja hues and forms,” says Peter.
13) Bougainvillea
- BOTANICAL NAME: Bougainvillea
- PLANT TYPE: CLIMBER SHRUB
- HARDINESS RATING: H2
- PREFERRED ASPECT: FULL SUN; SHELTERED
Best Plants For Pots In Full Sun
If you’ve got a garden where space is at a premium, you may not have the luxury of putting your pots in the shade.
This section showcases a couple of plants that are quite happy sitting in full sunlight; no gardener should be left behind just because their garden has no shady spots.
14) Pieris ‘Prelude’
- BOTANICAL NAME: Pieris japonica ‘Prelude’
- PLANT TYPE: SHRUB
- HARDINESS RATING: H5
- PREFERRED ASPECT: FULL SUN; SHELTERED
Bundles of white lantern-shaped leaves grace this plant’s branches in spring, and we absolutely adore it.
This plant will do well in full sun or partial shade, as long as it is sheltered from the worst of the elements.
‘Prelude’ has been awarded the RHS Plants for Pollinators label, meaning it’ll attract bees and other important pollen collectors to your garden.
If you’re looking for colourful buds and buzzing company in your garden, you can’t go far wrong with this plant.
15) Little Linda
- BOTANICAL NAME: Kalmia latifolia
- PLANT TYPE: SHRUB
- HARDINESS RATING: H6
- PREFERRED ASPECT: ANY
A compact Kalmia with a truly stunning red bloom giving way to a calmer but no-less-striking pink.
It’s rare to find a plant with such a characterful colour profile.
We think you’ll love Little Linda.
16) Eternal Fragrance
- BOTANICAL NAME: Daphne × transatlantica ‘Eternal Fragrance’
- PLANT TYPE: SHRUB
- HARDINESS RATING: H5
- PREFERRED ASPECT: FULL SUN; SHELTERED
This Daphne variety produces nice white, fragrant flowers throughout spring and summer months, even into autumn.
It’s semi-evergreen, and will grow well in full sun or partial shade.
Shade-Friendly Plants For Pots
On the other side of the coin, some of us with small gardens aren’t lucky enough to have a spot that gets reliable sunlight.
If this is the case, you need plants that can thrive in partial or constant shade.
Thankfully, there are plenty of shade-loving plants for containers to choose from.
A small garden that doesn’t get sun isn’t the curse it initially seems to be.
17) Plantain Lily
- BOTANICAL NAME: HOSTA
- PLANT TYPE: PERENNIAL
- HARDINESS RATING: H7
- PREFERRED ASPECT: PART SHADE; SHELTERED
There are many varieties of hosta, the vast majority of which thrive in shady conditions.
These plants are better than average at attracting slugs and snails, those prevalent pests that threaten gardeners across the country.
If you choose a hosta for your garden, be sure to take extra precautions against these slimy intruders.
18) Creeping Jenny
- BOTANICAL NAME: Lysimachia NUMMULARIA
- PLANT TYPE: PERENNIAL
- HARDINESS RATING: H6
- PREFERRED ASPECT: PART SHADE
Lysimachia is a low-growing plant with leaves that spill downward to create a pleasing visual effect.
They’re popular amongst gardeners with shady spots that need filling, and for good reason.
19) Trailing Lobelia
- BOTANICAL NAME: Lobelia erinus
- PLANT TYPE: ANNUAL
- HARDINESS RATING: H2
- PREFERRED ASPECT: PART SHADE
A lot of plants fall under the Lobelia umbrella, but this trailing variety lends itself perfectly to hanging baskets.
If you’re looking for trailing plants for pots in your garden, this is an excellent choice.
The bold and dramatic purple-blues are just lovely to look at, too.
Whilst on the subject of shade, the Rhododendron further on in this guide will suit a shaded position.
Best Flowering Plants For Pots
Not all gardeners require plants that put forth flowers, but to us, a colourful bloom is one of the most rewarding aspects of gardening.
This section introduces some plants whose bouquets will impress even the most reluctant flower fancier.
20) Lily Of The Nile
- BOTANICAL NAME: Agapanthus
- PLANT TYPE: PERENNIAL
- HARDINESS RATING: H3-H5
- PREFERRED ASPECT: FULL SUN; SHELTERED
According to some gardeners, this plant has the interesting property of flowering more when its roots are restricted, making it perfect for pots.
This doesn’t mean you should let the plant get pot-bound – you still need to take the relevant precautions and repot occasionally – but you can get away with leaving it a little longer than you would otherwise.
Depending on the variety you choose, Agapanthus can bring blue, white, purple, or various other colours to your outdoor space.
They’re a versatile plant that will reward any gardener who incorporates it into their potted plant repertoire.
“Look for your individual variety’s hardiness rating to decide whether it can be left outside over winter,” Peter advises.
“If it is H3, be sure to move the pot under cover during the colder months.”
21) Rose ‘Munstead Wood’
- BOTANICAL NAME: Rosa ‘Munstead Wood’
- PLANT TYPE: SHRUB
- HARDINESS RATING: H6
- PREFERRED ASPECT: FULL SUN; SHELTERED
A hardy rose with a deep-pink bloom.
This deciduous flower will bring striking colour to your garden in summer and autumn, and thrives in containers.
22) Yakushima Rhododendron
- BOTANICAL NAME: Rhododendron yakushimanum
- PLANT TYPE: SHRUB
- HARDINESS RATING: H5
- PREFERRED ASPECT: SHELTERED
This vibrant rhododendron has varieties in a range of warm tones.
It remains visually interesting after flowering with attractive foliage, unlike some other plants in this family, which are noted for being a bit dull between flowering seasons.
Also try the Rhododendron ‘Dopey’ for containers for this reason, as it doesn’t waste space when out of bloom.
23) Begonia
- BOTANICAL NAME: BEGONIA
- PLANT TYPE: ANNUAL
- HARDINESS RATING: H1B
- PREFERRED ASPECT: PART SHADE
24) African Daisy
- BOTANICAL NAME: Osteospermum jucundum
- PLANT TYPE: PERENNIAL
- HARDINESS RATING: H3
- PREFERRED ASPECT: FULL SUN
25) Fuchsia
- BOTANICAL NAME: Fuchsia
- PLANT TYPE: SHRUB
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- PREFERRED ASPECT: SHELTERED
26) African Marigold
- BOTANICAL NAME: Tagetes erecta
- PLANT TYPE: ANNUAL
- HARDINESS RATING: H2
- PREFERRED ASPECT: FULL SUN
27) Dahlias
- BOTANICAL NAME: Dahlia
- PLANT TYPE: PERENNIAL
- HARDINESS RATING: Typically H3
- PREFERRED ASPECT: FULL SUN; SHELTERED
Top Of The Pots
After reading our guide to the best plants for pots and containers, you should have a pretty good idea of some of the options available to you.
Pots and containers are a great way to expand your outdoor space, but the container size also matters, as Peter shares:
“Not all pots are created equal. I like to choose taller pots, which may hold moisture better, for plants like Clematis, which appreciate these conditions.
“I like to experiment with mixtures of pots and find that a grouping fits best if it shares one thing in common, be it a colour, material, plant, or shape. Otherwise, unless it’s your intention, it can look a bit…er…potty!”
A small garden, or even an enclosed concrete balcony, needn’t be a hindrance to your green fingers.
Planting out in pots is rewarding whether you have one solitary plant outside your front door, or a bustling garden with many pots spilling forth with varied and visually exciting plants.
We believe that anyone should be able to bring plants to their outdoor space, whatever it looks like.
With that in mind, we hope you enjoyed our guide, and that you feel inspired to go forth and pot plants to your heart’s content.
