Plant ideas for useless gardener

You can grow hardy geraniums ( Crainsbill geraniums) in pots. There are many varieties, some have scent and they have a long flowering period.
They like dappled shade and are very easy to look after. As they are low growing they could be used alongside taller plants in a large pot.

How about some perennial garden herbs? They won’t mind if you forget to water them and can be used in cooking as well. I am thinking Rosemary with lovely pale blue flowers, lavender, and all the thymes. These have the double benefit of being evergreen and the leaves will continue to give off a fragrance in the winter, especially the lavender.

You can plant clematis in pots and there some new varieties that don’t climb but “drape” from Raymond Evison. I have some hostas in pots, Acres are lovely and come in lots of colours. I don’t think there’s much that can’t grow in pots and you can choose your soil instead of making with whatever is in the garden.

A catalogue that has lots of ides for posts and gardens is You Garden inPeterborough.

my wallflowers last for ages and overwinter well in the South East..and smell delicious

Cordylines do well in pots - get the biggest you can - tall strappy evergreen leaves, and tough as old boots. Bamboos do well in pots and give height - plus, as they are thugs in the garden, it's best to confine them in pots! Geraniums are easy - lots of colour and easy to find - and you can often get them to go through a mild winter too. If you want to try your hand at something edible try a few raspberry canes. Four in a large square pot would work. Very forgiving of beginner gardeners and they come back every year. Growing in pots lets you try out plants you might not be able to grow in your normal soil - blueberries in ericacious soil for example, azaleas, pieris. You could try a few seeds in pots too - nigella, cosmos, and snapdragons come to mind. Good luck and enjoy!

Fuschia's are tough, with lots of varieties, colours and shapes.

You can get your annual plants (one season) or hardy (will last infinite and come back every year)

You can't really do fuschias any harm and they are low maintenance.

You will need to put them into bigger pots as the years go on or plant them somewhere in the ground. That will take years though

As others have said, many roses grow well in large pots and last for a few years.
Funnily enough, I have found that the ones advertised as "Patio roses" don't seem to last for very long. Just remember to water them and feed them well
Pansies are one of my favourites - you can get them in many sizes and colours and there are some that will flower nearly as far as Christmas if we don't have a frost.
In a couple of months there will be busy lizzies available - only annuals (last for one year) that though not perfumed provide plenty of colour for a few months, along with petunias (some new types are perfumed) and begonias.
As long as you buy large pots, fill with a good quality compost, feed and water well the only boundaries really are the size of any plant after 2 or 3 years !

Hoya Bella - gorgeous little waxi flowers. Lemon geranium thrives on neglect, mainly leaves with lovely smell

Put something that has a long lasting colourful display in with something like lavender or Nemesia for smell.

If you get a large enough pot and some long canes you could plant sweet peas. Lovely colours and a gorgeous scent. Just keep cutting them and they will keep flowering.

If you want to break up all the flowers with a bit of green, hostas are worthwhile. If you put copper tape round the top of the pots, slugs won’t cross it. They’ll be happy in their pots for years and you can always divide them to make more plants.

A packet of nasturtium seeds help to fill up gaps. Or there's one called Crimson Emperor which is semi trailing and will fill up a pot by itself. Very cheap and you get the satisfaction of growing it yourself.

I would second fuschias - they simply don’t stop flowering. Excellent for pots. Masses of varieties. You could also some of the dwarf hydrangea varieties - the paniculata and the lace caps are lovely, if you don’t like mop heads.

Christmas box gorgeous smell.

Thank you all. Lots of lovely ideas.

oh Jasmine too

Nemesia "Wisley Vanilla" is a tender perennial but it should survive the winter in a sheltered spot if it doesn't get waterlogged and is protected from frost with some horticultural fleece. I have had a pot of it by the front door for a couple of years. My husband has a poor sense of smell but really appreciates the vanilla scent. It lasts longer if dead flowers are snipped off from time to time.

Happy gardening, LtEve

Fuschias are not scented, but have a long flowering season until the frosts. They usually survive the winter to sprout into leaf again about this time of year, even the ones not labelled hardy.

I was going to suggest roses too, got to a proper garden nurseries and sniff them all

Lavender is an obvious one too?

Gertrude Jekyll rose bush from David Austin. Grows well in a pot. Beautiful fragrant flowers. My sister in law grew hers in a pot as they knew they would move this year. I have mine in the ground. Pinks and carnations grow well in pots. Herbs like thyme ,rosemary and mint smell lovely. And lots of varieties. Azalea grow in pots no smell but plenty of flowers. I am a novice gardener so others may be able to give you more ideas.