<p>Fresh bay grows year round on trees here.
"The laurus nobilis, should not be confused with the California Bay or California laurel umbellularia californica which is similar but not a true laurel. "</p>
<p>Also…
<a href=“bay laurel?”>bay laurel?;
<p>Since this is a college forum I thought you would like this — a friend pots small planters in her children’s college colors - she found some black velvet pansies for the pot needing black – very cute.</p>
<p>For our patio which receives morning sun and mostly shade in the afternoon: bright colored non-stop begonias that have almost black leaves, fragrant heliotrope, coleus pinched at the tip so it will be full, fuchsias, sweet potato vine and other lime-colored trailers, and calibrocha. A couple pots include ornamental grasses, dark-leafed New Guinea impatiens and the chartreuse leaf geranium Persian Queen. Also a single pot filled with golden hakone grass. Though I have it in the landscape also, I love the way it spills over the edge of the pot. In our PNW climate it’s a perennial.</p>
<p>Love the college colors thing; navy blue and old gold are tough colors though!</p>
<p>I like the perennials also and love, love the African daisy…bought one last year and bought a couple more this year. I’ve also fallen in love with the Picasso Petunia and a geranium, forgot the name, that has a waxy leaf…maybe a Geranium ivy? For herbs and veggies we plant tomatos, basil, mint, chive, rosemary and catnip in pots and those funky little strawberry plants in a strawberry pot. It’s so “normal” but I do love clumps of marigolds and mums in yellow and orange because they flower and last and last until frost. For the most part and because of the perennials we’re almost out of planting room so the annuals are more for fun. I wish I had some shade because there are some really pretty annuals but they simply wilt in the strong sun we have.</p>
<p>I am a fairly successful gardener, inside and outside. I can grow almost anything, except petunias. I don’t know if it’s my hot and muggy climate or what, but I try them every year, in the ground and in pots, and they just don’t thrive (or sometimes even live). I love the deep purple and pale yellows.</p>
<p>Pots are geraniums, lobelia, impatiens, begonias, hostas, hydrangeas (love this in my shady areas under trees because they add a pop of color and I can control their size with the pot), ferns, caladiums, hibiscus (both tropical and shrub), blue plumbago, moon vine (with trellis), mandevilla (red, white and pink, and this year a red and white stripe that is gorgeous), star jasmine (with trellis), verbina (purple and white), cannas, elephant ear (plack and green), dahlias, african daisy, purple coneflower, and butterfly bush.</p>
<p>I usually stick to purple, blue, pink and white, but did some red and white this year, in homage to my university. They blend in well with the pinks and purples.</p>
<p>I’m very fortunate that I have a small greenhouse my husband made from a box, so can overwinter my pots. It is a pain moving them, but the Radio Flyer wagon helps.</p>
<p>Front porch – I’m sticking with the fake flowers. Fool proof. Vacation proof. Always colorful.
In the back–weeds, mostly.</p>
<p>(I have about 40 rose bushes around my yard, and I like to spend my time on those–they are just starting to bloom–cut a few yesterday 
)</p>
<p>over30, that’s funny! As soon as the pansies started getting eaten I thought, I should have planted petunias. For some reason the bugs and slugs have always left them alone. Little bit of a clarification to my previous post: I actually have the pansies in the ground and the veggies in the pots. Maybe I’ll pick up some lobelia, too, so pretty!</p>
<p>atomom – that’s also funny. ;)</p>
<p>One year (long before the greenhouse) I spray-painted a dead asparagus fern and left in on the porch all winter. It looked good and made me laugh.</p>
<p>Emeraldkity - those potted shrubs and conifers must look fantastic! I have a few citrus and eugenia in pots, but never thought to plant dogwood or rhododendron in containers. You must have some very large pots! I really like all of the suggestions about purples and blues, which look so beautiful with yellow, pink and white. I’ve not seen a thrillers, fillers and spillers shop here, but what a great idea.</p>
<p>I did most of my shopping today, and bought white and purple nemesia, pink and purple verbena, wedgwood blue angelonia, superbells in hot pink and yellow, euphorbia diamond frost (what a great name…euphorbia, belongs to the same family as poinsettia), and bordeaux supertunias. While I was at the nursery, I also picked up a fragrant Korean liliac and a climbing hydrangea. Tomorrow will be a busy day!</p>
<p>We have two climbing hydrangea’s (different varieties) that are gorgeous. They’re on the two walls surrounding the patio. Be patient waiting for them to bloom - it took mine 2 or 3 years. I have a small-flowered purple clematis growing through one.</p>
<p>Climbing hydrangeas do take a while to establish. I have two older (12+ years) vines, and I decided this new addition would look great growing over a stone arbor in another part of my property. The older vines are growing along a fence, but they’ve also invaded the woods behind at the end of the lawn and have climbed the trunks of several oak trees, which looks incredible. Vine hydrangeas are somewhat difficult to find - they are usually in nurseries only in the spring, but they are a nice addition to the garden.</p>