5 Types of Plants You Can Grow in Containers for Your Patio

My husband and I have always dreamed of having our own little homestead. Our current active life in the military prevents us from really settling down and making that dream a reality, but we do a lot of backyard container gardening. Many of these pots have moved with us through several homes, and some of the plants are my husband’s prized possessions. We love teaching our kids about gardening and even though we can’t have a big garden of our own, we can have the satisfaction of watching plants grow and produce. Today I am going to share with you five types of plants you can grow in containers and pots for your patio!

Five Types of Plants You can Grow in Containers

Welcome to our backyard patio! We have a rock bed (yes, it does need weeding and some fresh rocks added) and an old trellis we have had since we first got married. This trellis has moved with us through five different houses. I’m not sure it’s going to make it to our forever home, but we still have it for now!

Now, let’s get to talking about the plants we have out here!

Herbs

Herbs are some of the easiest plants to grow in containers. I’ve grown all kinds of herbs in containers in the past including chives, mint, thyme, basil, and rosemary. 

What are the best herbs to grow in containers?

All of the herbs mentioned above make excellent container plants. This year I am growing a big mixture of sweet basil, thai basil, and purple basil. There’s a lot of pest in my future!

Mint is a very hardy plant. I thought this mint was dead, but it’s coming back to life!

Shrubs

Yes, you can grow some shrubs in containers and pots if you wish. I really wanted to add some color to our container garden, so my husband bought me a hydrangea and it’s doing pretty well in a pot.

What are the best shrubs to grow in containers?

Hydrangeas, rose bushes, summer lilac, gardenia, and rhododendron all make excellent container shrubs. 

Berries 

Let’s get to the edibles. Berries are awesome grown in pots. We grow blueberries. We actually planted two blueberry bushes in this old whiskey barrel a couple of years ago. We now get several handfuls of ripe, juicy blueberries in the summer.

You can grow strawberries, raspberries, and even blackberries in containers.

Tropical Plants

My husband loves tropicals. He used to have a banana tree, but I killed it during his last deployment. With tropicals, you do need to bring them inside during the winter and you’ll likely need to keep them under a light or at least somewhere they will get enough sun.

We currently have a hibiscus, a plumeria (smells wonderful when blooming), and aloe vera, which is actually a succulent.

Flowers

Of course, you can simply grow flowers in containers. We grow flowers for the color they bring to our backyard, and some just smell wonderful. I bought some inexpensive petunias and pansies for containers out back and they’ve lasted a couple of months.

My hanging baskets are fading, but they were wonderful while they lasted. We love gardening with our kids and bringing a bit of beauty to our yard. Gardening is a wonderful hobby that anyone with a pot and some dirt can enjoy!