Patio Pots

We went out to a local garden centre today, because they do a nice lunch in their cafeteria. As well as the lunch it cost me a rose, half a dozen cylamen and two big glazed pots for the patio. (One for the rose and the other for a bougainvillea we have on order).

I got 50% discount on the rose (because I asked for it, you won't get it, if you don't ask will you?) as it was a little bit sparse, due to the time of the year. When we got home I counted up the pots on the patio. We've now got twenty! There's plenty of room for them, but I've tactfully suggested we call a halt now.

 

Glad you had a good day out Doghouse.
We too have a garden centre which does a nice lunch.
Do you think the Bougainvillea will be OK on the patio, or are you going to overwinter it indoors.
I would love to have one but don't think it would manage here.

 

haha, might seem like an expensive lunch...but the pots and plants will last a lot longer. 50% discount sounds pretty good! The end of the season does have it's advantages, I just got a Tesco value garden fork for 2.50 (pounds, sorry our keyboard has gone all american and I can't make a pound sign??) from the 'seasonal' isle...I assume the gardening stuff will be making way for Christmas!

 

Alice, I once gardened for a lady who's daughter had bought her a Bougainvillea as a gift. She didn't really want one and left it outside on the patio at the back of the house, thinking she could apologise later and say she had accidentally killed it! It over wintered fine, typical eh? I have heard they really need a regular temp of over 5 degrees. She was so amazed by it surviving and flowering the next year that I think she started to become quite fond of it. Sadly, she passed away last summer so I can't report on what happened to the plant after that.

 

I've recently added another shelf in "the Rabbit Shed" where I keep all the garden tools (no rabbits in there for nearly twenty years) so the more susceptible of our plants in tubs will be going in there, probably after Christmas. There's also room in my koi pool filter room. As this is insulated and the water in the filters keeps it up to ten degree above ambient it will be OK I hope for the Bougainvillea.
What I'm most concerned about is the pots themselves as a few "blasted" out last year. The garden centre (same one) from where I bought them resisted my complaints but caved in and replaced them as I said; "'Frost resistant' is a nonsense description, the things either 'resist' or they don't, in my case some did and some didn't, so change them." I'd wrapped them in bubble wrap and moved them against the house wall so I'd taken reasonable precautions.

The reason we've so many pots is because my wife who has MS finds it an effort to get into the garden "proper" so she only spends a short time in it on occasional "good" days, but she can see the patio from her chair in the lounge. All our pots, except three which contain climbers and five on the patio steps which have our big oleanders are on "pot movers" so we can ring the changes with the view from the window.


Fortunately, we didn't take a trip down the East Lancs to "Bent's" I've rarely managed to get out of there coughing up less than £100.

 

That's interesting about the bougainvillea Ruralgardener and quite typical.
I've rescued more than a few things from the compost heap because they were doing so well :D

I'm sure yours will get on fine in the filter room Doghouse.