Pots that can be left

[Flashman]

Hi everybody,
Does anybody have suggestions for plants that can be left on outdoor window sills or terraces for weeks/months. I’m back and forth, leaving the house for quite a while inbetween visits and font have a watering system.
Presumably cacti and succulents…?

[Wicksey]

I would avoid anything being in the full sun all day. Even our succulents look sad in the summer and they are watered a few times a week. It's just the sheer baking heat, as in the sun it can be 50 degrees. If you have partly shady areas then I would think cacti and succulents would do better. Luckily we find that plants are usually pretty cheap here, so not such a disaster if you lose something. We have several hundred dark green baby agaves on a huge spike that would make us some money if we decided to pot them all up They do grow huge though so perhaps not ideal for a window box

[Benal Pirate]

Hi Flashman, I’m in a similar position as yourself. My terrace gets the sun from mid morning until 6pm. I tried all sorts but Crown of Thorns is the only plant I’ve found survives my neglect. I potted 20 2 summers ago and have only lost 3. And that’s with 2 long absences due to Covid travel restrictions. And they aren’t expensive and always in bloom.

[Flashman]

That’s great, thanks both for your replies

[Lavanda]

One of the problems is not so much the watering but is that the sun actually burns the leaves on certain plants such as hydrangeas. Look at local plants in the wild — no one waters them: lavender, cistus and rosemary will withstand many weeks without water and will not burn. However, they do grow into shrubs and could end up too big for a windowsill.

Years ago when I had my house in Coín I inherited a bougainvillea in a pot. It was about 18 inches high with a few leaves on it. I visited every six weeks and it was just a stick each time I arrived. I watered it and by the time I left it had a few leaves again. This went on for several years. When I moved to Extremadura I took the brave little stick and put it into a raised bed in my patio. It is now, 15 years later, enormous and has to be pruned every year. It grows like crazy and is amazing. A bougainvillea that you keep small may be an answer.

[Flashman]

Thanks Lavender, I had wondered about Rosemary and Thyme for the kitchen windowsills. I’d love to grow a bougainvillea and do have a couple of large pots on the roof terrace which may be worth a try..

[El Cid]

Bougainvilleas will not grow well in pots. I have tried!

Sid

[Lavanda]

I think it depends on the size of the pots. They do like crowded roots.

[Pamela1]

I like bougainvilleas but in the area where our property is located they don't survive the winter.

[Lavanda]

That's another issue, Pamela1. We get ground frosts and the bougainvillea seriously do not like that. The established plants do not die but need to be cut back so severely that they almost have to start from scratch each Spring. However, they survive. Young plants do not.

[Flashman]

I think it depends on the size of the pots. They do like crowded roots.

i'll be out for a good couple of months or so next September but only for odd weeks before then. When would be a good time to give the bougainvillea a go in a large (already occupied) pot?

[Lavanda]

I think they are supposed to be planted in the Spring but you can plant any old time. Apart from the one I inherited I have two others both bought in the local market. They were between 60cm and 90cm tall and cost €2.50 each. However, I'm no expert — it's just that anything and everything grows in Extremadura. Good luck and let us know how things go.

[Flashman]

will do, cheers