Pot Shots, Updated

I've been checking out my pots in these first days of September, seeing what has made it through the whole summer. For the most part, my pots have done really well. I have some winners and a few maybes, but I don't think there is anything that I wouldn't plant again. One of my favs, definitely, is the variegated scented geranium, above. It has looked great every single day of the summer and I just love the foliage. It does get small lavender flowers now and then, but it's the foliage that wins me over. I will get more next year.

Another winner, and no surprise here, is the Persian Shield perilla, and sweet potato vine. They are solid winners. 

A real workhorse is coleus. They are so showy and grow enormous and last the whole summer. These are sun coleus, 3 plants in one big pot, and they have been pretty amazing.

And this small sedum has done great since I planted it in my old green colander. It has bloomed profusely every day this summer and is still going strong.

Another favorite is this Mexican heather.  Eileen was the first to buy these up in PA and now we all snap them up for $1/plant.  I think there are 2 plants in this pot. It looks good every single day and doesn't get wilty when I haven't watered for a few days.

And speaking of sweet potato vine, the purple one is great too.

Another strong contender is angelonia, planted here in a pot. I did a pot of three different varieties of purple, pink, and lavender and I liked them mixed together.  They're still doing well.

This blue scaveola did great for most of the summer, but I've noticed in the past week or so it just looks tired and like it is just finished. I trimmed it up some this weekend and will see if it has any life left.

And my millions of million bells have just about lived their lives. It's hard to say anything negative about them, because I love them so much in the spring, with all their amazing colors. They are just so irresistible. But they just don't like our hot humid summers, and next year I will buy a few less (maybe). The same with petunias. I love them in the spring, but the only one I bought this year was the 'Picasso' petunia, and my one pot looked pretty good most of the summer, though it is dying out now. Petunias just get so straggly, and even when I cut them back, they just don't look as good. Another winner is lantana, blooms all summer and is still going strong. Heliotrope I buy because I love it, but it dies out by end of summer.