The winner: Petunia, 94/100. Runner-up: Verbena at 92. Lowest upkeep of the qualifiers: Begonia at 90.
A container flower is judged by the pot, not the border: typical size that fits, a habit that spills or mounds, bloom that keeps the arrangement alive, and mercy on the days the watering can stays inside. Every entry is container-rated by a documented source.
The picks
The flowers that won
The top score, plus the qualifier that asks least of you.
Sized for a patio pot: 15 to 61 · Keeps the pot in flower: 6 months · Care while it grows: low
Flaws, not dealbreakers:no flaw on record
Deer: sometimes eaten (Rutgers C)Cat safe (listed non-toxic)
84/ 100tap for the breakdown
Sized for a patio pot30 / 3015 to 61
Keeps the pot in flower22 / 256 months
Care while it grows20 / 20low
Built to spill or mound10 / 15clumping, erect, mounding, spreading
Survives the pot drying out2 / 10neither: heavy shade
The protocol
How the score is built
5 rules, 100 points, no opinions. Every line reads one field of the table.
Sized for a patio pot30 pointstypical height under 40 cm 30; under 60 23; under 90 15; a big-tub plant 6 Read from: how tall it grows.
Keeps the pot in flower25 pointseight or more months 25; six to seven 22; four to five 19; three 12; two 6; one 3; no bloom data 6 Read from: the months it is in bloom.
Care while it grows20 pointslow upkeep 20; middling 10; demanding 2; sources disagree, we average the range; no rating 8 Read from: how much upkeep extension guides report.
Built to spill or mound15 pointstrailing habit 15; spreading 10; mounding 8; strictly upright 4 Read from: habit form.
Survives the pot drying out10 pointsdocumented for both drought and heat 10; drought only 7; heat only 5; neither 2; no data 4 Read from: stress tolerances.
Not ranked here: not documented as container-suitable.
The full method ↗
The leaderboard
The top ten
The 10 highest of 73 that qualified. Tap any score to open the lines behind it.
Built to spill or mound10 / 15arching, clumping, spreading
Survives the pot drying out10 / 10both: clay soil, drought, erosion, heat, poor soil, salt, wet soil
Considered, not chosen
Not qualifying is a verdict too: the table simply says this question is not theirs.
not documented as container-suitableConeflower, Coreopsis, Globe Thistle and 9 more
The winner's badge
Generated by the ranking above, and re-scored whenever the table changes.
Petunia
The badge is generated by this ranking, not awarded by hand. When the
table changes, it re-scores itself.
How we rank
We keep one table of 85 flowers,
with 25 documented facts each, drawn from university and extension sources. Every ranking is
a published formula worth 100 points; tap any score and it unfolds into the lines that made
it. A flower that does not fit the question is not scored lower: it is excluded, and the reason is
shown. When the table changes, every score and stamp updates itself.
The full method ↗
