Summer flowers for containers: With these long-flowering, colorful plants, your outdoor area will become a paradise!

Pots are a great way to beautify your garden, patio or balcony - no digging, no weeding. All you need are a few pots, a large bag of soil and the plants. Larger pots look more dramatic and are easier to care for because they don't dry out as quickly. Drought is the big enemy, so containers with a diameter of 40 cm or more are ideal. Choose plants that will give you color all summer long. We'll tell you which are the most beautiful summer flowers for containers.

Summer flowers for containers – magical begonia

Begonias come in a wide variety of colors and color combinations (everything except blue) - bushy varieties for the center of the pot and trailing varieties for the edge. Some have large, fluffy flowers where size is the deciding factor. Others have smaller, simpler flowers where the number of flowers is impressive. Some are even fragrant. All begonias thrive in the sun, but they also thrive in the shade. Only when they are towered over by low branches do they wither.These plantsare robust, drought-resistant and self-cleaning, meaning the flowers fall off when they are finished - you don't need to remove any inflorescences.

The color palette of these plants is limited to sunny orange, yellow and gold tones as well as some atmospheric mahogany colors, but when it comes to flower splendor, the marigolds are unbeatable. The plants rarely grow larger than 30 cm, many are smaller, so you can place them on the edges of the pots and place other plants in between. A tip: Marigolds bloom for months if you cut off the spent flowers with kitchen scissors.

Beautiful fuchsias

Fuchsias are easy to recognize and come in combinations of red, pink, lavender and white hues. While some of them exude a simple elegance, others are large and lush, with lots of extra petals. They all bloom all summer long until frost and most drop their dead flowers so you don't have to cut them off - you just have to put them away. These plants are available either standing upright in the middle of large pots or hanging in a cascade over the edge. The selection is huge. Check the labels to see if they areupright or trailing plantstrade and buy the colors you like best.

The fuchsias grow to a size of 30 – 60 cm. Plant these flowers in moist but well-drained soil that is protected from cold winds but where they can benefit from full sun or partial shade.

Summer flowers for containers – colorful petunias

Petunias are easy to find, inexpensive, and available in a wide range of colors and sizes. Even better, some varieties of petunia bloom on their own. They love lots of sun, but not too much heat. Depending on the climate and average temperatures, you may want to shade them slightly at midday.

Some petunias also smell wonderful. Their showy flowers grow on trailing plants that hang over the edge of containers or on bushy plants that are ideal for filling in some gaps. These flowers don't like their roots to be dry, so water them regularly. They grow 20 – 40 cm high and 30 – 60 cm long, so theyeven larger basketsand can fill vessels.

Good tip: Also choose the charming hanging petunia

This beautiful hanging petunia has a palette that delights the eyes and sense of smell. You can find the plants in purple, pink or white, for example. Grow these summer flowers for containers as single colors or mix them together for a contrasting container. The bees will love them, so take a minute to listen to the gentle hum as you relax andthe aromatic scentlet it affect you.

Alsca lilies beautify your outdoor area

Alsca lilies have a vibrant range of colors and provide an abundance of blooms from June to September. The salmon pink, golden yellow and warm reddish brown of the flowers are ideal both as cut flowers and for containers and radiate with summer warmth. This flower thrives in full sun or partial shade provided it is given well-drained soil and protection from blustery winds. It reaches a height of 60 to 80 cm and a width of 40 cm. Don't forget to remove the flowers after they fade by pulling out the flower stalks at the bottom of the plant - this way the flower will delight you week after week. As a hardy plant, it will have exotic flowers again next year.

Plant pots with geraniums

Sometimes sold as geraniums, sometimes as pelargoniums, they bloom all summer in the sun, even when they become dry. The sturdy stems bear large heads of red, pink, white or sometimes bicolor flowers above soft, round leaves that are often colored maroon. Geraniums are so reliably colorful that you just have to have them. Some people use them as a focal point: three plants, all the same color, in one pot. Or you can plant them together with other flowers in a mixed planting. The plants grow to a height of 35 – 50 cm.