woodland container that can cope with neglect

[Pixiedust]

I have bought a little holiday chalet in woods that has a 4ft silvery metal container on its decking. The decking has a roof so it doesn't get any rain. It gets afternoon sun. It's in a sheltered spot which can be damp because of the trees around and it has some nice, natural looking bushes behind.

It has a hosta & some daffodils in it but nothing else. I'm trying to do a design for it (without much gardening experience ) with the added complication that I won't be there to water it every day. It'll need to be able to go for a week or even more on its own.

I want it to look natural, so I thought some ivies draped at the front would be nice, then maybe get another hosta as that one's done well (though another dead one is there so maybe not). Does anybody have any suggestions for other plants that would work well? I literally have no clue what to look at.

[rainbowgardener]

Morning shade / afternoon sun is a tough combination. Not really enough sun for the sun lovers, but that afternoon sun is too much/ too hot for the shade lovers. And then tolerant of drying out....

But here's some things to look in to that should at least tolerate those conditions: coreopsis, geranium (the ones sold as geraniums, which are actually pelargonium) - there's a really pretty trailing geranium, called ivy leafed which would give you the trailing effect, without taking over the whole box like ivy would -- lavender, pinks, verbena, scabiosa, daylily (there are dwarf ones which would be an appropriate size for your box), thyme and sage.

Your box will be prettier if you have things in a range of sizes, shapes, textures. I always like to have something spiky/ grassy in containers. Bunny tail grass is a cute, small scale ornamental grass that I use in containers sometimes.

[img]https://www.eeob.iastate.edu/research/iowagrasses/ornamental/aaimages/LagOva4s.jpg[/img]

Congratulations on the holiday chalet. Sounds lovely!

[Pixiedust]

Thank you! The cabin is tons of fun so far. I have a book on USA cabin style to give me ideas as it's not such a big thing here.

Thanks so much for your help. The sun's not strong on the decking at all, it's always a bit dappled because of the trees so I'm hoping that will help. The trailing geranium idea I love, plus the lavender would be lovely as there's a table & chairs right there so it would smell great. To be honest, I don't know most of the other plants so I'm off to my gardening encylopedia to check them out.