Unusual Plants for Containers

Perennials

• Unusual perennial flowers look normal until their showy floral display appears. One example is the chocolate cosmos (Cosmos atrosanguineus), which grows best in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 7 through 10. These deep purple-red daisy-like blossoms look velvety and emit a chocolate aroma. This 30-inch-tall flower blooms from midsummer through autumn. “Meringue” coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea “meringue”) produce blossoms on top of 18-inch-tall stems during the summer in USDA zones 5 through 9. The flowers are made up of a white pompom-like middle surrounded by short downward-pointing petals.

Succulents

• Many succulents offer unique shapes and colors while storing moisture in thick stems and leaves. Mexican hens echeveria (Echeveria shaviana) grows well in USDA zones 9 through 11, forming clumps 6 to 8 inches tall spreading 12 inches across. Blue-green leaves with frilly edges create short rosettes. As the leaves age, they change from tints of red to silvery blue to silvery green. Its pink flowers attract hummingbirds throughout the summer. “Pink Blush” aloe (Aloe “Pink Blush”) forms rosettes reaching 12 inches tall and 8 to 12 inches wide in USDA zones 9 through 11. The leaves appear dark to light green with raised pink ridges and orange tubular-shaped flowers appear from winter through spring.

Shrubs

• Some small to medium shrubs grow in containers for years, producing unusual blossoms. One interesting shrub is “Hot Lips” sage (Salvia microphylla “Hot Lips”), which reaches 3 feet tall and wide in USDA zones 8 through 10. The two-toned flowers of this evergreen shrub are half red and half white, attracting hummingbirds and butterflies all summer and fall. “Ruby” Chinese fringe flower (Loropetalum chinense “Ruby”) reaches 4 to 5 feet tall and wide, producing a compact round shape. Clusters of pinkish-purple flowers cover this evergreen shrub mainly in spring, but blooms appear throughout the year in USDA zones 7 through 9.

Trees

• Small trees with unusual shapes and colors provide container gardens with upright vertical shapes. One small tree is the purple-leaf weeping European beech (Fagus sylvatica “Purpurea Pendula”), which creates a large mushroom shape from deciduous weeping branches. In USDA zones 4 through 7, this tree grows 10 to 12 feet tall with deep purple leaves in spring that turn bronze-green in the summer. Twisty Baby dwarf black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia “Lace Lady”) reaches 15 feet tall and wide in USDA zones 4 through 9. This North American native tree produces white spring flowers and green leaves that drop in autumn. Twisted contorted branches come into view once the tree loses its leaves.