Wednesday, April 10, 2013

By Barbara Pronin If spring has you hankering for a garden full of color, but your space is hopelessly limited, you should get familiar with potted plants that can make your indoors or patio sing.

From the gardening experts at Armstrong Nurseries, here are some choices for a big splash of color that will dress up your smallest space:

For patios:

• Daylilies – Perfect if you have sun all day long, daylilies in pots produce colorful, cup-shaped flowers on long stalks rising from abundant foliage. Once established, requires minimal care except removal of brown leaves and spent flowers.
• Coleus – For shaded patio pots, coleus provides vibrantly colored foliage as well as attractive small flowers. A member of the mint family, it remains lovely throughout the summer and can be moved indoors in the fall. Keep the soil moist.
• Geraniums – Available in a variety of colors, these hardy plants are low maintenance and look great in pots and/or in hanging baskets.
• Jasmine – Arabian jasmine, with its star-shaped flowers, will provide a scented treat. Grows in sun or partial shade and may need to be staked onto a trellis. Allow soil to dry slightly between waterings.

Indoors

• African violets – a favorite houseplant that blooms long and beautifully, it is also one of the easiest to maintain. Use a long-spouted watering can and barely warmed water.
• Zebra plant – Put it near a window, mist it once or twice a week, and enjoy vibrant, zebra-striped foliage and attractive yellow flowers.
• Begonias – tough, undemanding free-flowering, a pot of begonias can be planted for next to nothing and will yield a full season of color.
• Shamrock plant - This jaunty indoor house plant has bright green leaves that look like shamrocks, plus sweet white flowers on tall stems. Loves bright but indirect light. Allow the soil to dry out a bit between waterings.

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