The winner: Begonia, 97/100. Runner-up: Verbena at 92. Lowest upkeep of the qualifiers: Blue Salvia at 91.
A pot on a hot patio is the hardest address in gardening: roots cook, water vanishes, and the sun never moves. Everything here is container-rated and full-sun documented, then ranked on size for a pot, heat and drought proof, and how long it keeps flowering.
The picks
The flowers that won
The top score, plus the qualifier that asks least of you.
Sized for a patio pot: 15 to 30 · Survives heat bouncing off the patio: both: black walnut, drought, heat, heavy shade, humidity, sandy dry soil · Keeps the pot in flower: 6 months
Flaws, not dealbreakers:toxic to cats
Deer: sometimes eaten (Rutgers C)Not for cat households
97/ 100tap for the breakdown
Sized for a patio pot25 / 2515 to 30
Survives heat bouncing off the patio25 / 25both: black walnut, drought, heat, heavy shade, humidity, sandy dry soil
Sized for a patio pot: 30 to 90 · Survives heat bouncing off the patio: both: clay soil, drought, heat, sandy dry soil · Keeps the pot in flower: 6 months
Flaws, not dealbreakers:no vase data in the postharvest literature
Deer: seldom damaged (Rutgers B)
91/ 100tap for the breakdown
Sized for a patio pot19 / 2530 to 90
Survives heat bouncing off the patio25 / 25both: clay soil, drought, heat, sandy dry soil
Keeps the pot in flower22 / 256 months
Care while it grows25 / 25low
Also great
Close behind on points. Neither beats the winner overall, but each is the better answer in a garden the winner would not suit.
Sized for a patio pot: 15 to 46 · Survives heat bouncing off the patio: a only: drought, poor soil · Keeps the pot in flower: 6 months
Flaws, not dealbreakers:no flaw on record
Deer: sometimes eaten (Rutgers C)Cat safe (listed non-toxic)
91/ 100tap for the breakdown
Sized for a patio pot25 / 2515 to 46
Survives heat bouncing off the patio19 / 25a only: drought, poor soil
Keeps the pot in flower22 / 256 months
Care while it grows25 / 25low
The protocol
How the score is built
4 rules, 100 points, no opinions. Every line reads one field of the table.
Sized for a patio pot25 pointstypical height under 40 cm 25; under 60 19; under 90 12; a big-tub plant 5 Read from: how tall it grows.
Survives heat bouncing off the patio25 pointsdocumented for both drought and heat 25; drought only 19; heat only 12; neither 5; no data 9 Read from: stress tolerances.
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 grows25 pointslow upkeep 25; middling 14; demanding 4; sources disagree, we average the range; no rating 12 Read from: how much upkeep extension guides report.
Not ranked here: not documented as container-suitable; not documented for full sun.
The full method ↗
The leaderboard
The top ten
The 10 highest of 62 that qualified. Tap any score to open the lines behind it.
Survives heat bouncing off the patio25 / 25both: clay soil, drought, heat, sandy dry soil, wet soil
Keeps the pot in flower19 / 254 months
Care while it grows25 / 25low
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
not documented for full sunHydrangea macrophylla, Anthurium, Azaleas and 8 more
The winner's badge
Generated by the ranking above, and re-scored whenever the table changes.
Begonia
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 ↗
