British Columbia: Tall Container Plant Suggestions?

Hello,
I have 2 large pots to fill on my west facing deck this summer in Vancouver. I am looking for something with height to reach the top of the deck railing. I was originally thinking of some kind of climber/vine? I'd ultimately love to have lots of foliage and flowers hanging over the railing. Alternatively, I've also thought of bamboo! Do you have any ideas for me?
Many thanks in advance.
Caroline

 

Not sure whether it could be done but how about peas or pole beans? Not only will there be flowers but also something to eat. Can't beat the taste of vegetables fresh off the vine. The weight of the portion draping over the railing may be a problem though.

 

As an annual, Malabar Spinach might be interesting, and usefull. Another idea might be some of the shorter sunflower varieties.

 

Well for an evergreen flowering vine try Clematis armandii..... very fast, aggressive growth.... seen one plant cover 20' of wire fence in couple years and heading up into Juniper at the end...... cut it off at that point
Develops lots of 1-2" fragrant white blossoms in spring, attaches to support with leaf petioles... tough, pest free, too aggressive is some situations... but easily cut back...... hardy in Z6-7, with 3-6" glossy leathery lanceolate leaves
Similar is Clematis cartmanii.... slightly fragrant??, duller, deeply cut orbicular leaves....

I think there are several varieties of both species now on the market........
100's of varieties of deciduous clematis..... all kinds of flws, few if any fragrant??

Another less aggressive, very fragrant, evergreen vine is Trachelospernum sp...'Star Jasmine'.... T. asiaticum is hardier, but hard to find... T. jasminoides commonly available, is marginal hardy in Z6 though will fare in sheltered location in average winters...... probably better to grow up from sheltered spot below deck.... friend has hers on trellis on east side of house along driveway.... has fared well thru several winters now??

If go bamboo's, try Fargesia sp..... they are clumping species and will hold in a container, and very hardy..... F. nitida preferred some shade, thou others more sun tolerant..... After F.nitida flowered 4-5yrs ago many new clones now available..... and maybe more sun tolerant??.... whichever, Fargesia sp certainly the best choice in small clumping bamboos, and extremely hardy, -20F I recall.......

 

try Hydrengia an petiolaris

 

Clematis armandii is not reliably hardy here especially in containers, where it will likely suffer sunburn in winter. It can look good for a few years years and then suddenly die completely. I believe Hydrangea petiolaris has suckery pads which could eventually damage the railings. I'd suggest Lonicera henrii a fast growing evergreen honeysuckle with nice (but unfortunately non-fragrant) flowers followed by berries. Following a suggestion I saw on this site a few years ago I have mine combined with a deciduous Lonicera periclymenum 'Graham Thomas' which flowers later and longer with fragrant yellow blooms. Both have been trouble free and although they do need pruning to control their enthusiastic growth it is very easily done.

 

Hey DT's
good insight on the C. armandi... never seen it held in containers for extended times..... likely it suffers the fate of most container stock, in that as the plant gets root bound, the roots are matted mostly just around the inside of the container, and then when hit by hard freeze, that container wicks the cold to that mat of roots, with no soil buffer, and that freezes that mat of roots, the main nutrient/water supply for the plant....... I have lost a number of otherwise hardy plants from that root bound container situation...

If one where to treat it as in bonsai, and periodically unpot, and root prune that might be avoided....... but that can be a chore to maintain that routine..... and the reason I don't keep bonsai....
The demands of container growing most anything, if you want to keep it for long..... it will need a periodic root pruning and some fresh soil..... the other options are to plant it out, or toss it, and start over...... commercial growers often toss larger overgrown stock, as it becomes pot bound.... or field stock that has gotten too large to handle and ship...... which also becomes more demanding to transplant and acclimate to a new site...... smaller fresher stock, usually adapts quicker, and catches up with larger stock in a few years.....

If root pruning, just as in top pruning, it is best to make a sharp clean cut..... and the roots will bounce back more quickly....... a torn cut seems to discourage development of new roots or branches.... likely the plant is expending more 'energy' trying to heal that splintered wound??...... I've seen this in potting bare rooted field stock, into containers .... and of course its usually best to prune in late fall or winter, or when the plant is dormant......

Also the spiraling roots of a container held plant, will in time strangle itself....... if these spiraling roots are not pruned hard, and allowed to straighten out into a radiating pattern..... often overlooked by folks transplanting container stock......Porous containers, such as 'Airpots' and 'Smart Pots' avoid this pattern of matted spiraling roots, by 'air-pruning' as the roots approach the interior surface of the porous container..... while I hear these porous containers form nice root balls, these too have their limits and demands I suspect....... we all want to be free!!

If you need to hard prune the roots...... its best to top prune hard at the same time, to keep the demands of the top in balance with the roots....... the plant generally bounces back quickly from top pruning and root pruning, if it is done in a balanced fashion....... The heaviest roots are both food storage, and mechanical support, and the finer roots are the supply of fresh water and fresh nutrients..... heavy root pruning is best done when the plant is dormant, and the plant may then need some mechanical support until the roots have time to develop and anchor the top again.... the swaying top will keep breaking the new tender roots until they toughen up in a year or two........

Most folks avoid/overlook root pruning of container stock..... but if timed right and done in balance with the tops, the plants generally bounce right back.....some palms are the the one exception, if you top prune the single growing tip, the palm is dead.......so it usually best to cut thru the matted roots to open them up, but the plant will need some time to re-establish these roots........ younger, more aggressive, vigorous plants, tend to be more resilient to this treatment......
For me it has become SOP.......... I always cut the matted roots around the outside of any root ball.... and treat the roots just like the tops....... and my jungle bears witness.... most do survive and thrive
later

 

If you really want something stunning, look at Musa basjoo, Musa dasycarpa (aka M. velutina), and Musa 'Bordelon' all of which will be fine if you overwinter your containers indoors. All of these will easily grow taller than your fence, the look is stunningly tropical, and the plants are quite easy to care for and ideal for container culture.

 

How about Nasturtium (Tropaeolum)?

 

Ornamental grasses (including carexes) work well in containers--good way to use phalaris, gardener's garters, which you wouldn't want to let loose in the garden. Depending on the width of the railing cap, you could purchase railing planters, secure them with zip ties, fill with mix, and plant with trailing vines and grasses and annuals. We have pelargoniums and nicotiana langsdorfii and strawberries and petunias, among other things in ours, affording a degree of privacy when we're on the sundeck.