One thing I have found that makes container gardening easy is start with a large pot - big enough to plant a shrub like boxwood in the center leaving room around the edges for annual color. Then all you have to do is plant annuals around your shrub. It has a nice green color for the background that will show off whatever annuals you put around it. You could do the same thing with your purple fountain grass. Put that in the center of a large pot and surround it with annuals - the 'profusion' zinnias always do well in the heat and would be very colorful for you. Ivy is another thing that looks nice in containers and is evergreen. It is very pretty trailing over the edge of the containers. You can put your tall plant in the center, then alternate something trailing with colorful annuals around the edges. If you plan on putting your container against one of the walls of your patio, put the larger plant towards the back of the container then fill in the rest with annuals, etc. Go ahead and pack them in tight - it is okay because it will give that instant fullness to your containers. And, you don't have to buy expensive containers either. Just get some of those plastic terra cotta colored pots and use matching saucers under them so they won't stain your patio area. The plastic retains moisture better than terra cotta and they look just fine. Once the two of you get your own house, you will really enjoy gardening.

Calloway's sells a soil mixture and I'm terrible with names too so can't remember what it's called but it does not dry out nearly as fast as all the other potting soils that I've tried.

You may have to give up on a japanese maple. Mine gets a little bit of late afternoon sun and it tends to burn the leaves. I've never heard of one that will take all day sun.

You might try awnings or umbrellas to provide some shade. The summer heat is brutal enough on plants without having heat reflected from the bricks onto containers. Is it possible to remove any bricks? I've seen pictures of terraces that are have raised planting beds around them. They look good and especially with trailing plants.

Welcome SharperTx! You'll find lots of help and friendly people around here! The above suggestions sound great to me...I was also thinking a patio Umbrella might be useful and decorative at the same time! Native plants might be a good idea - since you definalty have some heat/sunlight issues. Best of Luck!

The container plants I've had the most success with (that is, they take full sun and still live) are: Dwarf Pomegranate, Firespike, and white Obedient Plant. I give these plants very little attention all summer, and they thrive despite me. Also try tropical hibiscus. You can usually get these "fairly" cheap at Lowes or Calloways. Moss Rose and Purslane will also do very well. Container gardening in full sun is a challenge, but there are things that will grow for you. Good luck.

Carla in Rowlett

Hi sharpertx,

This forum is a great place to read, ask questions and have lots of fun!

I totally agree with Denise's advice regarding large pots. Not only do they give plant roots more protection, you can also have fun with the different combos etc. I loved the umbrella suggestion also. If you have/get large enough containers, maybe you can put in some kind of support and try growing some vines to give your space some height. I'll refrain from giving you specific suggestions because this will be my first year trying this!

Profusion zinnias, marigolds, dwarf cosmos (you can find the seed at wildseedfarms.com; not the usual tall ones) and portulaca did really well for me last year. The first three were very easy to start from seed as well. Also, plumbago and gold lantana were beautiful in similar conditions as yours. I know that blackfoot daisies do very well in hot, dry conditions, but don't know how they'd fare in containers. Might be worth a try.

Good luck with your new space!

Anchita

The umbrella idea is a good one, especially if you want to try something like Acer Palmatum, the most common "japanese maple". I responded to your question about rooting that species, and mentioned it's total unsuitability for your purpose, in your other thread.

An interesting suggestion for your hot sunny patio container plant (although not a cheap one) would be a dwarf conifer, although I'm biased becuase I collect them.

As for your propagation questions, I would advise you to get a book on plant propagation from your library. Ken Druse "making more plants" is a good one for people with less experience. The propagation bible is Dirr and Heuser's "reference manual of woody plant propagation"

good luck

Talk about timing! The Garland chapter of the Native Plant Society has a lecture on propagating this Sunday at 2 p.m. at Rohde's in Garland (I live near you and this is closer for me than the Dallas chapter). You can go to their website for details. It's free and they welcome guests. They also have a drawing for plants! Hope to see you there.

Here is a link that might be useful: NPSOT Garland chapter

You could also consider a container water garden which might give a cooling effect to your terrace. You could use a 1/2 whiskey barrel with a liner or some other larger container, add 3-4 water garden plants (Lowe's has them)and add a pump for circulation and to get the trickling water sound, but it's not necessary. I keep goldfish in mine for mosquito control and to provide nutrients for the plants. Put some smaller potted flowering plants around the outside of the garden. If you use goldfish, be sure to put a chair nearby, cause they are fun to watch. Also if you use fish keep in mind how warm the water will get in the summer with no shade. I use 2 liter coke bottles filled with water, freeze them, and on really hot days throw one in the water feature to help keep the temps down.
Umbrellas are a good idea to help with shade, but if you still get the hot sun on the brick, you will have a radiant heat issue (not so much for the plants but for the humans), and umbrellas have a tendency to get blown away in storms, so you would need to be mindful of that. If your DH is handy, you could try to build a "patio cover", consisting of 4 posts to the appropriate height and some narrow slats accross the top to provide some relief. You'd still get some sun and rain thru the slats.
Just take it easy - doesn't all have to be done this season - plants will grow and be dividable, so you want to have room for expansion when they are ready. Have fun!!

Speaking of whiskey barrels, I have seen some heavy duty plastic whiskey barrels with no holes in them at Garden Ridge in past years that would be wonderful for a container water garden. Hook up a small bubbler to keep the water moving and mosquito free and maybe even a couple of those cheap feeder goldfish too. Be sure to add a dechlorinator before adding fish. They would probably be okay if you had a plant in there that gave some shade to the water.

The herb rosemary will do great in a pot on your patio.
Its really cheap too at WalMart.
I'm going to try to start some cuttings of mine, if they take I'll bring them to the NT Garden Club plant swap on March 31st in Lewisville.

There is an email list for this group, but GW won't let me post it. You'll have to email me for the link.

Melvalena

denise - that's what I use for my water garden - the plastic whiskey barrel from Garden Ridge - a little pricey but maybe not so bad when you consider the price of a wooden whiskey barrel AND a liner. I'm thinking about making a second one if I can just find a place to put it!!

Rosemary would love your patio, once it's established it'll be happy with benign neglect. Lantana should react the same way. Basil might be another option, it's done well for me before in full hot sun. You might also try Ruellia brittoniana, also known as Mexican petunia.

I do recommend investing in a few large watering cans -- the plants will need a lot of water in July and August and it'll be easier to fill multiple containers and take them all out to the patio than try to go back and forth with one or two. I had more plants at my apartment than I thought I had, all outside, and I found that filling the cans in the bathtub was quicker than the kitchen sink.

Good luck and enjoy!

I also was once a gardener on a limited budget. These are some tips that worked for me. I am not an expert gardener but I am a plant-a-holic! :)
One way to get some new plants is to plant your groceries. Some edibles can be very attractive. Research your veggie or fruit first to make sure it likes hot weather. Hot peppers I think would be good. I had a friend who grew a lemon tree from a store-bought lemon. Strawberries are pretty container plants; you can bring them in if it gets too hot or too cold.
As a general rule, vines are usually very easy to propogate in a glass of water. Just dump and re-fill with fresh water about once a week for fresh nutrients. Every vine I have ever done this to worked. Non-vines, well, not so easy.
You can even come up with cheap pots. Improvise. coffee tins, plastic yogurt buckets, butter tubs. the coffee tins will eventually rust but I have seen plants live for a couple years in a coffe tin. Make sure to pierce holes for drainage. You can use foil baking dishes/ pie pans underneath.
One place I would recommend you not skimp is soil. Buy the good soil in the bag. Maybe not the most expensive one, but don't go with the cheapest one either. I have had that cheap stuff turn to muck on me.
There is a forum called Frugal Gardening here that you should go check out. They have lots of good stuff.
Good luck with getting your patio full! It will take time but I am sure it will eventually be gorgeous!

I have to garden in containers on aggregate CONCRETE in full sun, so I understand the limitations you face. The conditions as far as reflected and direct heat couldn't be worse.
First I'd say that unless you are willing to water once or twice a day in the worst of the heat, your chances are slim of having success. Can you run a hose so you can water things thoroughly, letting the water run through the pot and out the drain holes? Carrying water in containers would be very tedious and backbreaking.
Here are a few plants that have done well under these harsh conditions, with adequate watering. On the worst days you may have to water during the heat of the day when they are most stressed. It only takes one time for them to get so dry that they can't recover. According to what you said, that happened last summer.
As I said, this is a partial list: sun coleus, fan flower (scaevola), blue daze (evolvulus), pentas, tecoma stans "Gold" (esperanza), periwinkles, croton, hybrid trailing lantanas, perilla magella (a double cousin to coleus), sprengeri fern (asparagus fern). There are others, I'm sure, but these I know can take these adverse conditions. Geraniums (zonal) do pretty well, but eventually they begin to burn around the leaf edges. Oh, and sun caladiums, if they can have a couple of hours of afternoon shade and copius water. Pentas are my favorite all-time champ. Unless you let them get too dry ONE TIME, they are real winners.

Wow, thanks everyone for the advice!

I had to grab a notebook and take notes.

I won't be able to run a hose, unless it's a hose hooked up to my kitchen sink or something. Right now I'm just running back and forth with a watering pot. I already know I need a bigger one.

I love the water garden idea, and I'm sure the hubby would love it. But I'm worried about the cost for that. I will look into it.

Also, I'm going to make a trip to the library this week and check out those books. I have checked out some container gardening books, but haven't looked at any other gardening books.

Will definately see if I can find some vines to clip off of. Besides vines, there is some bamboo plants down the block. Will rooting those be easy?

I do have some rosemarry from last year, and it's done amazingly well all last year. But this year, it seemed to be not to happy. So I repotted it in a bigger pot, and realized that was definately outgrowing that pot. I clipped alot of the dead parts off of it. And I'm really hoping it will come back to life for me.

and I didn't think of planting fruits and veggies from the grocery store! A lemon tree, wow! And I'll definately be on the lookout for cheap alternatives to pots.

Also big pots, I'll have to keep that in mind for sure.

I'll stop by Lowes today with my list of acceptable plants and see what I can find cheaply.

Thanks everyone for your help!
I'll definately keep updated.

You might also check out the Container forum, but be prepared to learn a lot about perched water tables in pots : )

You will have to translate the forum into Texan(heatwise).

Herbs, generally take hot dry temps. Oregano, Skullcap, fennel, dill, rosemary, and many others all would do well.

The problem I see coming at you, is moving to your new house and trying to get large pots off a balcony. The water garden, you could empty out and rebuild.

So I would go with that, or plants that I could dispose of when I moved.

Here is a link that might be useful: Container Gardening

I think the water garden idea is great.
Could you you put a box fan out on your terraceto help circulate the hot air?
Walmart has some pretty good sized pots outside for $5-6. I just bought a couple and am going back for 2 more today. I got the rounded ones. I like the raised drainage thing in the bottom & it was only $6.
See my post here about the earth box, that's a cool idea too.

Hello and welcome to Texas and the garden web.
Hope I've got you before you've gone out and purchased any pot's for your plants because I want to let you know to get light color pots because the dark color one's let the sun dry the soil out faster and heat the pot up to much.
Light grayish, white, yellow anything light.
There are other places to get plants other than home depot, walmart, try farmers market's and if your able even some trades around your area or if you can go outside your area. We welcome everyone wishing to grow plants, many of us have to thin out plants anyway and don't always have a home for them and hate having to throw them away. Another plant that you might like it mint it smells good and some trail over pots and some are upright.
If you'd like some salvias I have a ship load and they are great, love heat and dry soil.
Barb

Barb -

I have bought a couple of pots, but for the most part, alot of myself is still sitting in their original plastic containers. I was going during my lunch break tomorrow and get some pots. So you caught me in time! What a great idea, thanks!

I'm germinating some salvia right now, but not sure if I am having any luck. I don't see any peepers yet. But that would be great, and I'd greatly appreciate it! I'll email you in the morning and see if we can work something out where I can get them from you. Or maybe if you are going to be at the FW Swap, I can meet you there.

Stephanie, good to hear you caught this in time it will save your plants. I will be going to the FW plant swap so if your going to be there I can pot up some salvia for you.
I don't know how you planted your salvia seeds but the seeds to salvia don't need dirt on top, when you put the seeds into the soil just take your hand and pat them into the soil.
I have Henry Duelberg it a blue color and red saliva the two colors really make a great statement.
Oh one plant that would love your hot patio would be a Bougainvillea, these do have to be over wintered inside but will worth it IMOP.
I've seen them at Home depot and I think I seen a lot at The plant shed last week about 8 bucks. They are slow growers so the would not get out of hand like other climbers.
Like Sylvia said we gardens are enablers :) but it's so much fun.
BTW, The best time to get bargins on plants is late in the fall, I got two great hibiscus for 5 buck each. These would be another great plan, Oh come to think of it I have some Texas star hibiscus seeds if you'd like some.

So I went by Lowes today and saw a couple of Hibiscus I could't live without. They are 2 small plants, but they were $4 each. They are a bright fuscia color. I didn't know Hibiscus was such a pretty flower....so much to learn!

So I brought them home. I should of bought some pots too, but afraid hubby will notice a major charge on the debit card. LOL I figure if I keep frequent low charges, they aren't as alarming...LMAO!

Yes, I am planning on attending the plant swap. I do need to print up the directions and all. As far as Salvia goes, not sure what kind I have, I'll have to pull up the tag and read it when I get home. I didn't put the seeds far in the dirt. I just sprinkled the seeds on top of the soil and put about 1/8 of an inch of soil spread on top. So they are very lightly in there. Hopefully they'll still be okay.
Ooo, yes, I looked up the pics of the Salvia, and I like. And I'll have to look up what the Texas Star Hibiscus looks like, but I know I'll probably like those too if I like the ones I bought already.

Thanks so much for your help! I can't tell you how much it's appreciated!

eldo1960 is right on about watering. Plants in containers have a hard time in sun and heat, and watering twice a day in the summer may only *just* get them through.

If you go on vacation, pull everything inside and then make sure the a/c isn't too cold.

The salvia seeds you planted should be good, just wait a few weeks and if you don't see anything coming up you can take some of mine home with you :)
One way to get pots cheap is through going to garage sales, and you can use terra cotta pot's but to use them you would need to spray the inside with pruning sealer and you can paint the outside of the pots too to make them your own.Plastic pot's do best though.
Oh, Hibiscus are great I love them for their flower's, they only down side of hibiscus is the flower only last one day but they have plenty on the plant so their never without flowers.
The hibiscus will need to be wintered inside. I'm not sure how the Texas star hibiscus would do outside in a pot over winter, planted in the ground they go dormant and we cut them down to the ground but they can also be used in a small pond water garden.
BTW I have plants in pots around my pool full sun and I only water them once a day in the hottest part of summer and some I only have to water every other day depends on the plants needs.

Use the antique rose.. DH built my boxes out of 2x4 and dog earred pickets..my plants love them.

GREAT looking planters!
What's inside them to hold the dirt?
What are to bottoms made of?

Heck! Even if I just made something like that to put my ugly pots inside of it would be a huge improvement and maybe Hubby won't be on me to get rid of the pots!

Tico cruiser....Those planters are neat.
If you were to put a plastic liner or tray like a kitty litter pan in it you could keep plants in nursery pots ,put water in the pan and the plants could wick up water as they need it.
I feel another construction project coming on!!!

Instead of an umbrella, a shade-sail might be fun...if you had a way to achor it. The site below only has two fabrics. Maybe you could rig something up using shade cloth. That would give whatever you plant--and you!--a little relief from the sun this summer.

Here is a link that might be useful: Shade sails

sharpertx, i'm very new to gardening too! last year I went crazy in my yard and tried a lot of things. Most of my patio containers have full sun (south-facing) all day.

Things that I really liked that did well in containers in full sun are ice plants and purslane. I saw the purslane everywhere in stores. It flowers all spring summer and fall. It has to go inside in winter. Both of these grow like crazy and you can take clippings and just stick them in dirt and off they go.

Someone wisely recommended--don't plant anything in black containers. I wish I had known that. I had a very large bougainvillea which died in the full sun last summer, not from lack of or overwatering but from baking its roots in the black pot.

have fun! I have to restrain myself from buying big expensive plants too, but the small things I bought last year have rewarded me this year with much bigger and filled-out beauty. My prickly pear cactus, which was just 2 little ears last spring, is now about half the size of me!

Wow, those planters are beautiful! I'll have to show the pics to the hubby, maybe it will motivate him a little. LOL

My silvia is sprouting! In fact, everything that I have germinating is really starting to sprout so now I'm checking everyday because I'm so excited! But my sweet peppers haven't sprouted yet.