Put your tulips and hyacinths (if you have any) in your refrigerator now, preferably in the meat drawer.. Don't put them in the fruit drawer (gases from ripening fruit can kill the blooms). Mark your calendar for 8 to 12 weeks before you plant them in your containers. You could probably get away without chilling the species tulips, but it's a better bet to chill. The spider lilies you can plant in the ground right now. If anything will survive this drought it would be them. Don't expect blooms from them this year. But they should put up leaves very soon. Leave them standing all winter and let them turn yellow in the spring before you cut them back. (Just a note for future reference. Spider Lily leaves look just like daffodils, except they have a dark stripe down the middle.) You can go ahead and plant daffodils, muscari, etc. in your pots now. Do not take them into the garage. Leave them outside where they can get any drop of rain that falls. They won't freeze in your mild winters, and they need the chill time to be able to bloom come spring. Your pots will have to have some water through the winter. Not alot, but some: a good watering once a week at least. Save some bath water, mop water or dish water for them. (Not water with bleach in it.) Plant your bulbs according to the package directions. Give them a spoonful of bulb booster when you plant them. Keep them watered, and look forward to spring! To give yourself added pleasure, plant some pansies or flowering kale in the top of the pots after your bulbs are planted. Coordinate the pansy colors with the bulb colors. (I have planted sparaxis before and they only returned about three years or so. But they are pretty.)

AJ, last November I put bands directly into really big pots that I plan to leave there. (Didn't know I wasn't supposed to.) I bought bulk potting mix that contains a lot of small pine wood chips. Truthfully, it doesn't look like there's much soil in it at all. She said she sells it to nursery people. I water mostly everyday especially now that it's gotten pretty warm. They have done great with no problems. I hope they don't dry out too badly in the summer. I need to put a drip watering system on them, but I have proscrastinated. Here is Cornelia who I just recently wrapped around some bamboo stakes. She has done wonderfully, throwing half a dozen 5' canes but no flowers yet. Don't know if that's typical for her. The two others are Fellemberg and Aloha. I decided to plant in permanent pots after several members said it worked for them and not just with smaller roses. I do think it must be the potting mix that's the most important thing, but I'm really dumb about applying what I've read on the soil & container forums. I lost several potted-up roses last year after trying to do "what the experts said." It's just fortunate I found this supplier. Her mix works well. Sherry

There are tall narrow evergreens that will tolerate shade--fastigiate yews and cephalotaxus come to mind. Try Googling "cephalotaxus harringtonia fastigiata" and see if that pleases you. A good source for all plants is the Forest Farm nursery in Oregon. Welcome to gardening.

Yes, it can be grown in a container - I have several clematis in pots growing on my deck. How large a pot depends a good deal on the type of clematis - some clems are bred specifically for this purpose and are quite compact plants. But other clematis can get to be large vines and will develop a root system to match. These need a generously sized container to accommodate their larger root system. My larger vines are in containers that are about 24" deep and about 18" across at the top with a slight slope to the base - like an oversized flower pot. You want a good textural, fast draining potting mix and add some CRF like Osmocote. In zone 7b, there is no reason to assume this container could not stay outside all winter. The large flowered hybrids are hardy to z4, so quite able to withstand the cold if in a generously sized container and z7 soils seldom freeze to any appreciable degree anyway. It would be more a matter of the durability of the container - if you use a plastic or plastic resin pot or a freeze proof glazed ceramic container, you are good to go!