The only way to learn is to ask! I started with a couple of patio plants three years ago, and now gardening is one of my favorite activities. It focuses me.

Anyway, a gardening zone map helps you find the kind of plants for your area (you live in zone 6--same as me!). If you google zone 6 plants, you'll find you have a long list of options.

There are two types of flowering plants--perennials, which re-flower each year, and annuals, which last only one season. There are some plants that will flower in the winter, like alyssum . Some plants die back in the winter, so your pots look empty. Others stay green all winter. For this reason, if space allows, it can help to plant a mixture of plants in or among your pots.

Are you looking for flowers, plants, or evergreen shrubs to put in your pots?