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Compact shrub for a pot in full sun?

NollieNollie Posts: 6,773
in Plants
I would like an elegant, wafty-scented, ideally evergreen, white long-flowering shrub to go in a 50x60cm heavy pot, near a seating area. It would need to tolerate alkaline/neutral soil and hard water. It needs to be tough enough to take a baking without frying. I can shade the pot a bit but the plant would be in full sun. Singing and dancing beneficial but not essential.

Abelia Grandiflora seems to fit the bill, but the scent is a bit light and not very wafty. I have this one below, planted in poor soil and rarely watered, which I think is a grandiflora... but have you lovely folks got any other suggestions for me?.






Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
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  • Alan Clark2 in LiverpoolAlan Clark2 in Liverpool Posts: 1,995
    edited October 2019

    https://www.sarahraven.com/flowers/plants/container-plants/daphne-x-transatlantica-eternal-fragrance.htm


    Daphne 'Eternal Fragrance'?

    I have one in full sun in the soil just outside my back door and it is thriving.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 28,848
    I used the RHS "Find a plant" feature and it came up with just 2 compact shrubs with evergreen foliage, white flowers and perfume for a sunny, dry, alkaline pot.

    https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/59970/Eriocephalus-africanus/Details 

    https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/312592/Choisya-x-dewitteana-Aztec-Gold-(PBR)/Details

    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • NollieNollie Posts: 6,773
    Thank you both. @Alan Clark2 in Liverpool I actually looked up eternal fragrance, but Helen Yemm says Daphne’s are not suitable for a pot, so I’m not sure about that, but it does look lovely.

    I think the Choisya is a distinct possibility, @Obelixx - somehow I had it in my head that Choisyas needed acid conditions but RHS says not, so I must have confused it with something else. How do you pronounce choisya by the way?!

    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 28,848
    Like choice but with the "s" and the rest sounding like the "sier" of choosier.

    Unless I'm speaking French.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • NollieNollie Posts: 6,773
    Yay, for once I was pronouncing it my head correctly! Here it would be something like show sigh a - I think - Catalan pronunciation is still a bit of a mystery and tricky to get an English tongue around. My house name is the worst. I have been practicing saying it for three years but still end up having to spell it out. Embarrassing.
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • BorderlineBorderline Posts: 4,688
    I think something like Choisya x Dewittiana 'White Dazzler' would do well in the conditions you mention. Myrtles like Myrtus Communis and Luma Apiculata, Chilean Myrtle should also do fine in a container that size in full sun. Long season of interest with dark berries into the autumn winter.

    There is a nice low growing Pittosporum called Pittosporum Tobira 'Nanum' that does well in full sun. White flowers that fade to a creamy yellow in late spring into summer.

    I saw in late spring this year the wax flower shrub, Philotheca Myoporoides for the first time in the garden centre, and even when not in flower, the leaves were interesting. I was told it would do well in large containers. Not fully hardy in harsh frost, but can easily survive if tucked against a southerly wall. Sadly I had no more space, but it's on my wish list.
  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 7,444
    Daphne 'Eternal Fragrance' does well in a pot... needing no special attention except repotting once in a while... blooms in flushes.. for me 3 times a season..but the Spring and Summer flushes are best..  


    East Anglia, England
  • PeggyTXPeggyTX Posts: 556
    That's a lovely Daphne, Marlorena. 
    My low-carb recipe site: https://buttoni.wordpress.com/
  • NollieNollie Posts: 6,773
    Brilliant, thanks for the additional suggestions @Borderline. Of the Choisyas, both the
    White Dazzler and the Aztec Good look good, as does the Philotheca. All are available mail order from France as is the Daphne.

    That certainly is a beautiful Daphne, @Marlorena, I wonder why Helen Yemm said in an article they are not suitable for pots, yours looks perfectly happy.

    That’s given me a good list to hunt down locally first, as it would be good to see them in the flesh. Thanks everyone.
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 21,033

    I am in SW France and I have Choisya Aztec Pearl in a bed that is never watered. I have alkali soil. I prefer its green leaves to the gold ones. Good to know it can be grown in a pot. I have given up on Daphnes, I think it is just too hot here in summer. It was 40° for more than one day on 3 occasions this summer. Several shrubs and roses had burnt leaves.

    I'm glad Nollie asked the question as I am spending more time in the UK as my partner lives there, so I will be changing the garden and instead of planting bedding plants in pots I'm thinking of lavender, perovskia, purple sage etc instead. The housesitter is getting expensive! But I will have to put my elderly mare in livery.

    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
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