As a non gardener I desperately need advice. My parents were buried locally and I was always able to keep their wish to tend their graves and keep plant tubs fresh and cared for. I have however now moved away and am only able to visit every couple of months. I have autumn and winter sussed - skimmias with and without berries in tubs have survived since last October with no watering on my part. But I just don't know what to do from now until October again! Can anyone suggest any plants for tubs which MIGHT survive if I put granules in etc etc and we have rain on occasion. The graves are also in full sun which doesn't help! They both hated plastic and silk flowers so I can't go down that route. Many thanks in advance for any suggestions.

greenfingersnot;885366]As a non gardener I desperately need advice. My parents were buried locally and I was always able to keep their wish to tend their graves and keep plant tubs fresh and cared for. I have however now moved away and am only able to visit every couple of months. I have autumn and winter sussed - skimmias with and without berries in tubs have survived since last October with no watering on my part. But I just don't know what to do from now until October again! Can anyone suggest any plants for tubs which MIGHT survive if I put granules in etc etc and we have rain on occasion. The graves are also in full sun which doesn't help! They both hated plastic and silk flowers so I can't go down that route. Many thanks in advance for any suggestions.

without having some idea as to where your general location is
this might be a hard question to answer. cyaaaaaa, sockiescat.

On Tue, 27 Apr 2010 17:33:26 -0400, greenfingersnot
wrote:


As a non gardener I desperately need advice. My parents were buried
locally and I was always able to keep their wish to tend their graves
and keep plant tubs fresh and cared for. I have however now moved away
and am only able to visit every couple of months. I have autumn and
winter sussed - skimmias with and without berries in tubs have survived
since last October with no watering on my part. But I just don't know
what to do from now until October again! Can anyone suggest any plants
for tubs which MIGHT survive if I put granules in etc etc and we have
rain on occasion. The graves are also in full sun which doesn't help!
They both hated plastic and silk flowers so I can't go down that route.
Many thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Without knowing location I can't recommend any specific plant but why
does it need to be in a container... without regular tending it's
pretty much impossible for any above ground container grown plant to
survive more than a few weeks. Were the container in the ground (say
a section of chimney flue) to keep plants from spreading, then there
are many plants that would survive well long term with perhaps a
yearly thinning/weeding... but again, without knowing the location all
anyone can offer is wild speculation.

In article ,
greenfingersnot wrote:

As a non gardener I desperately need advice. My parents were buried
locally and I was always able to keep their wish to tend their graves
and keep plant tubs fresh and cared for. I have however now moved away
and am only able to visit every couple of months. I have autumn and
winter sussed - skimmias with and without berries in tubs have survived
since last October with no watering on my part. But I just don't know
what to do from now until October again! Can anyone suggest any plants
for tubs which MIGHT survive if I put granules in etc etc and we have
rain on occasion. The graves are also in full sun which doesn't help!
They both hated plastic and silk flowers so I can't go down that route.
Many thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Two things you may look into:
1) Water gel, a.k.a. hydrogel
http://www.ehow.com/how_4460993_plant-using-water-retaining-gel.html

and

2) xeriscaping, plants that need little water.
http://www.google.com/search?client=...aping&ie=UTF-8
&oe=UTF-8
--
- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arn3lF5XSUg
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Zinn/HZinn_page.html

Plants that have storage organs do well with episodic watering. These
include bulbs: daffodils, tulips, some lilies, etc. You could plant a
carefully selected set of bulbs that bloom in sequence through summer
and fall.

Can you swap out the tubs? If so then two other plants that come to
mind are irises and daylilies. They tend to crowd out other plants,
though, so you would want them in tubs without other kinds of plants.
Many irises and daylilies bloom just once and are finished, but there
are so-called reblooming varieties that last longer.

If Skimmia works then you are somewhere that is warm temperate.
Xeriscape plants that would work include some of the smaller, hardier
cacti. Else small succulents. Both can look really fabulous in
shallow tubs with nicely sorted river gravel or lava rocks. Visit
public alpine gardens and rock gardens to get ideas.

Una