Container planting on 2nd story condo

les&jus

Hello, I'm looking for some advice on what to plant in hanging baskets.  I'd prefer not to attract bees, so I'm looking to stay away from flowers.  I love long-vined and cascading plants.  Also, what can I do with my plants in the winter?  Any advice for my restricted gardening situation would be great!

kastle

what's your sun situation like?  how many hours?

Overall, though, english ivy would work.  it does fine in  sun or shade, is evergreen, can survive outside during the winter and cascades.

If you get sun, you could consider sweet potato vine (comes in a variety of foilage colors now: lime green, deep purple, a bronze-y color) would work.  It's an annual, though, and will be killed by your first frost.

dirtyred

Ditto the sweet potato vine (Ipomoea).  Bonus:  you can eat the sweet potatoes at the end of the season.

For some color, you could try chenille plant (don't know the genus).  It has red flowers that look like red fuzzy caterpillars and I've never seen a bee on it.  We over winter it inside and it comes back in the spring.

les&jus

Thanks, ladies.  My deck faces east and gets full sun until around noon.

Another question...my front door leads to the breezeway which never gets direct sunlight, but always gets some light.  Is there anything I can plant in a contanier out there?

dirtyred

Impatiens, begonia, and coleus are all annuals that do well in shade.

eikome

Just another thought, if you plan to leave any perennial plants outside in their pots during the winter, be sure to get plants that are at least hardy to 1 zone colder than you are in. So, if you are in zone 6, then get plants that can survive in zone 5 or 4. Pots don't insulate as well as the ground does, so plants in pots are more susceptible to freezing to death. Also, if you get a lot of freeze-thaw cycles, don't use terra cotta pots. They'll crack. I have pretty good success leaving out plastic pots in the winter.