Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jan Carroll z/7a on May 3, 2009 at 9:52pm

My guess is that in Wisconsin it gets too cold for them over the winter. The roots might be freezing. I do some plants here in GA in containers. They are in large pots and as long as they are a hardy variety they seem to do fine. I have evergreen trees, rose bush, rosemallow. and a flowering quince. I have an angel's trumpet that I take into the basement before hard frost. They do fine in the ground well mulched, but have lost one in a pot before to freezing temps. Your pots may need to be protected in someway. Hopefully a fellow Northerner can give you more info!

Permalink Reply by Dee Dee Sanford on May 30, 2009 at 9:58am

Jen,
I'm not sure where in Wisconsin you are - it looks like there are quite a few different planting zones in the state. I live in Chicago (zone 5) and I have been reading about perennials in containers this year because I live in a condo with a relatively small planting space and growing trees in both the front and back, creating more and more shade in my ground growing area. This leaves me with only my large pots for sun perennials. I've tried plants there in the past that have not come back but have some asiatic lilies there that constantly multiply and some other plants that I put in what I like to call 'overflow' containers that have returned and flourished. What I found that makes sense to me is that plants may need to be hardy to about 2 zones lower than yours to be successfully grown as perennials in containers. When I checked the ones I already have I found that, sure enough, they are all hardy to zone 3. So this year, I've started planting sun perennials that are hardy to zone 3. My pots are starting to look really good now - I started planting them about a month ago. I'm very excited to see if they do, in fact, return next year!

P.S. Just for added protection I also plant to mulch and wrap my containers this winter also.

Permalink Reply by Ilse Daniel on June 4, 2009 at 9:33pm

I've heard that a good way to protect container plants during the cold is to wrap the containers with bubble wrap. Of course the best protection is to bring them inside if you can.

Permalink Reply by Carolyn Wakefield on June 16, 2009 at 3:45pm

I had a gerbera daisy last year in a pot on the deck and I brought it in for the winter. It looked a little limp and leggy by the end of the winter, but I put it outside and fed it and cleaned it up and it is looking healthy now. No sign of any blloms yet, but the weather has been cool and cloudy.

Ilse Daniel said:

I've heard that a good way to protect container plants during the cold is to wrap the containers with bubble wrap. Of course the best protection is to bring them inside if you can.

Permalink Reply by Hedy Caldwell on June 22, 2009 at 6:13pm

Have you considered a heat tape under your pots?

Permalink Reply by Judith Clausen on June 27, 2009 at 12:26pm

I live in zone 5b in Denver, maybe not as cold and humid as Wisconsin. I've had good luck with perennials, especially clematis, hosta, heuchera, chives, asters, lilies (although I treat these like an annual with new bulbs every fall because I have mostly shade on my balcony), perennial grasses, Jacob's Ladder, ferns, weigela, columbine, can't think of any others at the moment. I have a lot of wind up here on the 6th floor.

Permalink Reply by Daryl Giampieri on July 30, 2009 at 8:50am

On the roof in NYC I get lots of sun a little to much, what made it was lavender, thyme, mint, clematis (someone pulled off the evergreen, so I don't know if it will survive or not) butterfly bush, sorry went blank with the others. :-) Winter gets windy and cold.

Permalink Reply by Kris on August 2, 2009 at 10:02am

I did lilies in a container, brought into garage over winter, took out and overplanted them with pansies in Spring - they lasted for several years (maybe 3) ... last year they must have gotten too cold or perhaps they just didn't get enough nutrients to come back. I loved it though! Chives are pretty easy in a pot and I love the lavender flowers they sprout in the Spring! - Same thing - bring into garage or basement closet - I live in Northern Illinois near Wisconsin border :-)

Permalink Reply by Christine Gambacorta on August 2, 2009 at 12:55pm

Hi Jen,
I live in Cary, NC & have several perrenials in containers..2-nandina for some winter green on my deck, for summer--2 hydrangeas with vinca, cannas that come up every yr, deer grass, and a dwarf alberta spruce & spiral juniper. Use a good soil (moisture holding) & don't forget to feed with a liquid fertilizer monthly (during growing season). You may need to freshen the soil every couple of yrs but just adding some new may do the trick. Size of container is important..some like crowded roots others do not...check with Home Depot or Lowes Garden Center for your type of plants. I use good size (3 gal) pots for mine & they do very well. Best of luck!

Permalink Reply by Marianne Barrowman on August 3, 2009 at 11:54am

Some daylilies will make it in pots too. I've had Stella de Oro in one for years. I'm sure many others would survive too, because I have so many daylilies that now and then one gets left above ground for the winter and they usually make it.

Judith Clausen said:

I live in zone 5b in Denver, maybe not as cold and humid as Wisconsin. I've had good luck with perennials, especially clematis, hosta, heuchera, chives, asters, lilies (although I treat these like an annual with new bulbs every fall because I have mostly shade on my balcony), perennial grasses, Jacob's Ladder, ferns, weigela, columbine, can't think of any others at the moment. I have a lot of wind up here on the 6th floor.