Plant ideas for useless gardener

I've just had two Gertrude Jekyll roses delivered from David Austin, looking forward to planting them once I get the pots and compost. They're in pots not bare rooted so can survive for a few days.
Very excited and hope to have a cheerful looking scented patio for summer. Thank you everyone for their suggestions.

As snakeshead are part of the lily family they are also attacked by our friend - the lily beetle .

The problem began in North America and wasn't a serious issue until the 1980's here .

My parents had always grown lilies and suddenly their plants were devastated in this decade .

I'm still growing them in pots and picking the beetles off daily .

This year, I'm going to try crushing some garlic in water and spraying it on .

It doesn't kill them ,but they can't smell the lilies and won't target them .

I have been picking them off my snakeshead fritillaries for a few weeks now. My lilies aren’t even above ground yet and then I’ll start again!

Bulbs can be grown in pots or in the ground and I just leave mine in over winter and they come up every year.

Anyone tried garlic spray on their lilies ?

I carefully pick off every lily beetle I find and walk them up the lane and release them. I couldn’t possibly kill them.

My lilies are flourishing and grub free.

Telltale signs begin with ugly frass (poo)on your precious plants

The 'frass' is the poo that the lily beetle grubs surround themselves with to evade predators. I spend hours every year searching my lilies for it and scraping it off into a jar of water to drown the buggers! But For me the actual beetles come first and I eliminate every one that I find.

I shall see if anyone apart from the dreaded Amazon, which I have boycotted for years, sells the Grazer G4. Thanks for mentioning it.

MaizieD .
Agree with you - lilies are fantastic .

I bought mine very cheaply from Wilkos and Lidl and didn't think that they'd be so successful .

Old world plants with an incredibly rich history of myth and medicinal use particularly in Chinese medicine -they thrive in pots .

One of my friends thinks that she's hopeless at gardening has a wonderful display .
Neither of us do anything fancy to them and up they come year after year .

The downside-the beastly lily beetle.
Telltale signs begin with ugly frass (poo)on your precious plants .
Then they're stripped by the voracious feeders .
I check mine daily and pick off the beetles, but now Amazon are offering Grazer G4 against the beetle .
This doesn't kill pollinators .

Lilies! No-one's mentioned lilies, have they?. Oriental lilies* do very well in pots, are spectacular and have wonderful scent which travels in still air. They don't always come back well the next year but the bulbs are very cheap and give a good show in their first year.

Watch out for lily beetle. A handsome scarlet beetle that it seems cruel to squash but it'll strip the foliage off your lilies (and reproduce) in a blink of an eye.

*Asiatic lilies have no scent. Don't get them confused...

so very sorry just read your message and my post isnt applicable for this query. hope it healps people with new homes with new gardens though.

Sorry deleted by mistake choiysa ternata 9small white starflowers, choiysa sundance, red robin and caenathus (blue) shrubs for back or front garden for new or gardeners with no time!!! You are probably not lazy at all.

all the above just helped my son with his newly aquired garden in his first home (he had to work hard at getting rid of the overgrown weeds and brambles first).
Bought him these four evergreen shrubs for his back fence - red robin, choiysa ternata and choiysa sundunce and caenothus. These shrubs seem to test the time as most of my neighbours have them in back and in their front gardens too.

I am busy making lists! The only thing I've managed to keep alive so far are some spider plants the original of which my daughter bought home from nursery 25 years ago, they're huge now and seem to survive even if we forget to bring them in during winter.

It isn’t a flower, but we live in Mississippi and have had a small Meyer lemon tree in a planter for three years now. It started bearing fruit twice a year after the first year and this year is bearing in the spring and around December. The blossoms smell amazing and the melons are less sour than normal ones. Cover it during any temps below 40 just as a precaution, or ring it inside.

Something that will attract and support bees and butterflies like herbs and scabious -a wild flower mix maybe? Many of the annuals in pots and baskets like petunias etc have no pollen. Night scented stock will grow in pots and only produces a lovely scent in the evening. I grow french beans and tomatoes and cucumbers in pots as well as spinach and lettuce .-saves a bit of money on food too

Daphne has pretty pink flowers and smell gorgeous. Get the evergreen one so looks good all year round.

Night scented stock. Very easy and just as tge name described a beautiful aroma in summer evenings

Definitely begonias! They do very well in pots on our patio and often still flower in December. So many bright colours. Of course you’ll need to wait some time before buying them.

Don't describe yourself as useless .
Gardening has some tricks to master.
Some wonderful ideas answer this post .
Pots dry out in the summer . So think of asking a neighbour to water them .
I use old tea bags to prevent the soil from drying out .
Ceramic pots are better than plastic,but heavier and more expensive .
Don't leave water in the
Saucers underneath .
Make sure that there us adequate drainage.
Put old crocks in the bottom of the container.
Use a peat free compost and a slow release fertiliser.
When the plants ate tired or too big you'll need to repot .

Whiff has some great ideas .
I agree about roses - David Austin sell a stunning range .
I prefer English lavender to French .
Just prune before hard
wood forms.
Dianthus (pinks ) are incredibly scented and easy to grow .
Rosemary and mint smell nice to .

Viburnum Bodnantense will give you fragrant blooms in the cold weather.
White jasmine and Gardenia are fragrant but need protection from the frosts .
You can plant bulbs like Hyacinths around the edge of pots .

The most fragrant flower that I know are Stocks .They smell incredible. .

I like Hostas snd ferns for their
shape .

I also would grow
an Acer to give definition to your balcony garden .

4allweknow

White fuschias do have a scent, lavender, roses. How about herbs rosemary, thyme though no flowering but a lot of greenery even in winter.

Rosemary and thyme do flower.

I think the nest things for a "useless gardener" are plants that will seed themselves and grow back each year.

JaneJudge is so right, Jasmine all the way, grown in two pots linked in a archway, wonderful!

I like heucheras, amazing selection of flowers and foliage, will last for years in a pot.

I always buy New Guinea impatiens ( extra large busy lizzies)they are usually about £4 each but flower throughout Sumner & autumn depending on pot size a couple in each pot is enough

Pots can be a pain because they need frequent watering so I put a plant pot saucer underneath each one and keep that topped up. Unglazed ceramic pots lose water more quickly and are heavier than plastic, although more attractive. Nasturtiums are good value for colour and proliferation - plus they’re edible. What about some cherry tomatoes too? Christmas Box is gorgeous, the smell is delicious in the winter. Pelargoniums are very forgiving and love being baked in the sun. And garden centres will soon be full of plants for baskets so there’s a huge choice there. Good luck.

White fuschias do have a scent, lavender, roses. How about herbs rosemary, thyme though no flowering but a lot of greenery even in winter.