Jackie D wrote:
I want to buy some plants suitable for containers that are in a
sheldered spot near the back door of a terraced house.
I love hostas but snails get them. I was thinking of planting a variety
of bulbs but the pots look ugly when the plants die back. Can anyone
offer suggestions?

As Bob said, knowing what kind of shelter you have in mind would be of
help. However, you can have anything in pots, provided it is well
drained and the compost ph is according to what plant you want. I have
pots surrounding my house, different plants for different situation.
The bonus is that you can move them about. The down side is that they
dry quickly. I have from hortensia to ribes, maples to rhodos, grasses
to lavenders, hebes to ceonothus etc. Right now you could do annuals,
vegs, herbs, sweet peas (just done them today in a large pot with a
home made wigwam and made another pot of self seeded digitalis), and
the bulbs you move to a corner out of sight during the summer until
spring, like cowslip, tulips, daffs, muscaris, hyacinths etc. Or you
dig them out the pots, let them dry, put them in a shoe box till
october and pot them back.

Looks like hard work at first but you soon get the hang of it )