Houseplants in outdoor containers

I forgo most of the expensive annuals for my planters and instead primarily use foliage plants (aka houseplants). Not only do many houseplants add color and life to the inside of our homes, they can do the same in outdoor containers. One of the main purposes I use houseplants for is as foliage fillers for containers. The picture above shows Wandering Jew mixed with white Petunia.

One great vining house plant is Pothos. It can be used as a hanging plant in containers as well as a vining plant trained onto a trellis. My main Pothos was my Grandmother Nita’s. I have had it since she passed away years ago and it is still in the same pot. I keep the main plant safe in my house during the summer, but I take cuttings from it and pot them up for use outside and to give away. To get a head start on establishing the plants before planting outside, the cuttings can be potted up indoors during early spring. If you are like me, I don’t always plan that far ahead, so I often just take cuttings and plant them directly in their summer container. Make sure to ease them into their outdoor conditions by hardening them off. For more information on taking cuttings, take a look at one of my previous blogs on cuttings at https://www.shawnlvieth.com/easypropagation/  .

Many other houseplants are great in outdoor containers. Some suggestions are Asparagus Fern, Wandering Jew (more correctly known as Tradescantia Zebrina), Spider plants, and Philodendron. Other easy care plants that offer interesting foliage, but don’t necessarily trail or vine are Polka Dot plant, Jade, Aloe, Rubber plant, and Mother in Law plant. Some, like Kalanchoe, offer easy care succulent foliage along with a long blooming period. If transplanting houseplants and taking cutting seems too complicated to you, you can make things even easier on yourself by just putting your houseplants outside in their current container. Houseplants can put on an amazing amount of growth when they are outdoors. Just keep in mind that the sun is much more intense outdoors. Partial shade is typically advised for most houseplants outdoors.

At the end of the growing season, you can save your plant for reuse next summer. Simply pot up a cutting at the end of summer and bring it inside to preserve it over winter or bring the whole plant in if you have the room. Utilizing plant hangers can help save space and take up almost no room. Just make sure to hang it near a sunny window to give it adequate light over the winter.