Four Easy Care Flowering Plants For Your Sub-Tropical or Zone 5/6/7 Container Garden!
After a long winter in Northern Israel, and a bit of a slow start in the Spring due to more rainfall than usual, my somewhat neglected (or shall we say low-maintenance?) container garden is now coming alive with gorgeous blooms! Somewhat of a miracle though likely thanks to husband’s recent interest in watering our botanical friends, thankfully. Here are four tried and true plants that bloom year after year here in my sub-tropical/zone 6 climate of Northern Israel, which includes frost and some freezes now and again. Container gardening is such a pleasure and a lovely way to
bring greenery into your life even if, like me, you don’t have any earth. Trees can be grown in large containers, and while many plants don’t thrive in containers, many do and with some patience you can turn any patio or outdoor space into a lovely garden. So, lets take a look at four plants how in bloom in my garden, and maybe you’ll consider some of them for your own space.
1. Bougainvillea
Bougainvillea is the bright flowering woody vine/tree that gives so much vivid color to our Mediterranean region, and interestingly there are not only at least 4 colors one can plant, there is also a variety called the dwarf bougainvillea, with smaller flowers, that is used to make a bougainvillea standard or “tree”. Just note, not all bougainvillea have the same hard properties. Here in my location the magenta bougainvillea is the hardiest, with white and orange generally less so, though I have had some success with them in the ground. Bougainvilleas do well in large pots and look lovely when trained to climb over a doorway or up a wall, go for it!
2. Oleander
I inherited my oleander tree/bush from a friend who passed away, and it gives some height to a corner of my container garden. Oleander is a lovely flowering bush that is also drought resistant and used next to highways throughout Israel. But never mind about that, in containers it won’t go wild and you’ll enjoy its blooms, of which there are several colors for many months. Just be sure to keep it away from small children who might eat plants as it is poisonous.
3. Pillar Geranium
My oblong container of pillar geraniums which I initially grew from very large cuttings from the garden of the same friend who passed away, just keeps on blooming and I regularly take cuttings from it to grow in water or fill bare spots in my container garden. Pillar geraniums grow to at least a height of 6 feet or more, which is really so much fun, and when they are happy their large green leaves are lovely.
4. Bower Vine
I’ll admit, my bower vine isn’t the happiest fellow, but it still has given us a few flowers to enjoy this week! My neighbor has bower vine planted in a huge planter, and the vine has climbed more than a story and run along the backside of the second story of her home, so it truly is a climber. It’s green and white leaves are small, so it makes a delicate impression and won’t overwhelm other plants if you don’t want it to, a nice quality!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this very brief introduction to some of the flowering plants in my container garden, now go invest a bit of time in your own little patch of green, all the effort is well worth it!
