Perennials that grow well in pots

by Pamela MaryMauter
(Villa Park Illinois)

I live in an apartment in Villa Park Illinois and I love Perennials can you please give me a list of Perennials that I can grow in pots on the patio in my aera every year successfully.


Doug says you can grow any perennial successfully in a pot. That's not the problem - if you like it, you can grow it.

Your problem will be overwintering them. You can't allow the plant roots to get to 5F or they'll die (most of them will anyway but there are a few hardier ones (sedums as an example.)

So the question is really how to insulate and provide some heat when the really cold weather arrives. Some folks stack their pots up against a patio door and then insulate from the outside so that any heat leaking through the door helps keep the plants warm.

But this only works for a few degrees of heat. If you really get cold - as in minus 10F for a week or two, you're going to lose plants.

Sorry to be so unhelpful. Your challenge is to figure out how to let the plants go dormant while not allowing them to get to 5F soil temperatures. Tough on a balcony. :-(