There was talk last week about growing plants in pots. Was it really growing them or was it keeping them in a pot until the right spot was found. I have had many a plant in a pot that has died through benign neglect while waiting for that perfect place in the border. On moving house I decreed ‘no more plants in pots’. My agapanthus and lavenders were planted out and their roots now have the freedom to roam. I neglected the rosemary cuttings and they duly died. Some plants have stayed in their pots and make an important structural impact and some need to be moved on or given up. Here’s my six:
One
This phormium and its dragon pot have been together for 20 years. There is no chance of me releasing it from the pot so there it will stay. Every now and then it flowers but they are not significant. It is the focal point of the leaves that is important.
Two
This cordyline had been in its pot for about 15 years. It has recently been repotted and not a day too soon. I use it to balance out the phormium on the other side. Being smaller it needs help.
Three
So I pair it with this yucca. It came out of the old garden and into a pot. The yucca rarely flowered in the garden and was getting congested. I dug it up with the intention of throwing it out but decided to keep a few divisions in a pot to see if I could create another focal point. The divisions took and they are beginning to establish themselves. Paired with the cordyline they help counterbalance the phormium.
Four
Herbs are often kept in pots by the back door to be on hand when needed. This thyme is in a sunny spot and has survived many periods of neglect. There is a sunny spot in the border against a south facing wall now vacant after I managed to kill a well established rosemary. My murderous gardening activities usually involve lack of water. It might be safer to keep the thyme in the pot and in sight.
Five
I’m a little nervous about this one – I’m sure it won’t survive. It was given to me as a present for the new garden. It’s a dwarf azalea with a pink flower and until I see the colour I’m not sure where to put it. For this year it is staying in the pot and if it is very dwarf it might stay in the pot for a few years. This is how it starts…
Six
Saving the worst till last. This box has been in the pot for about five years. It was bought unshaped and my plan was to cut it into shape over the years. I was not successful, the pot has cracked and neglect is setting in. It has been demoted to that special corner of the garden where the broken pots are kept and the tumbleweed blows through. Time for it to go … or shall I give it a new pot, some water and one more year?
That’s my pot expose (add accent please). Thanks to The Propagator for hosting the wonderful Six on Saturday. Read his blog posts and all the other Six on Saturday posts from around the world at The Propagator my plant obsession
n20gardener 
Time to bin the box, i reckon. It’ll probably get the virus at some stage anyway.
Btw, you have this post tagged with tags that don’t seem relevant. E.g. parsnips, tulips.
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Obvs didn’t save my new tags! Thanks for that.
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Oh I see. You have to delete the old tags if you use a previous post as a template. Sometimes this process is painful!
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I’ll be you, … I’ll put the cordyline and the boxwood in the ground. And I have the same reticence towards a pink dwarf azalea 😂(which was a gift, still in bloom: I’m waiting a little before deciding)
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For mine, if the flower is a good colour and the height does get to a metre it could make a useful contribution. It will appear again when it is in flower and then we will see!
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Your potting ‘sins’ totally resonate. Good luck w/the azalea. Its foliage is so vibrant! Love to see it in bloom. Maybe next year, it’ll make another Six appearance?
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Definitely on the list for a future sixer.
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I’d say that if that box is the worst you can come up with, you’re doing pretty well. I have seen far, far worse, some of it on sale in garden centres! It just needs a feed.
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Yep would agree with Jim, might be worth replacing some of the old compost with a bit of new too👍
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That’s a good point. I haven’t fed it in ages. Looks like it’s a keeper then.
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Guilty as charged! Plants in pots for far too long. In my own defense, we once had a garden where the soil was nothing but clay and shell. I dug compost in for two years before I saw a worm. There were plants I removed from garden beds and planted in pots: their condition improved immediately.
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it is lovely to see them fly when moved into some good garden soil.
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Goodness! Container gardening is overrated. Some of you plants would be happier in the ground. However, some look good in pots because they are higher up. I happen to like yuccas in pots. I don’t know why. They just look cool that way. That phormium looks cool too.
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A potty six ;). As Jim says, that box looks like it needs a good feed. It also needs a somewhat larger pot. But the question is will you be able to lift the new pot if you repot it? Sooner or later every pot needs to be moved for some reason or other. If you have space to ground-plant it somewhere, then perhaps you could leave it in its current pot a bit longer but feed it and see how it responds before digging that big hole. Perhaps ask yourself what its purpose would be if it remained in a (bigger) pot.
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Your point about purpose is well made. The box has gone off into a corner because I can’t see a home for it in the new garden. Hence the neglect. That’s often the give away. If I’m not looking after a plant it usually means I don’t really need it in the garden. I need to review it again, just thinking now – maybe it can go into the front garden. Mmmh?
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