New to gardening - list of plants; which are compatible?

[seanspotatobiz]

Mum and I have never had a garden before but a couple of years ago the garage was torn down (before it collapsed) and I've built a deck and whitewashed the walls. I'm building some nice planters out of left-over deck boards and we've been walking around a couple of garden centres noting down plants that we're interested in and would like to have in our pots, planters and hanging baskets (hanging baskets will probably be a job for next year).

I'm wondering which of these plants will be incompatibile (requiring different types of soil etc). My mum doesn't have a lot of free-time so we can't have anything high maintenance (I'm away studying most of the year). If soil composition is an issue, I will be at home twice a year (summer and winter) and can make adjustments then - but again, I have no experience so we want the most beautiful arrangement we can have with minimal risk of destruction.

Here is the list of plants we made:

Lilium (red pixie) Cordyline Begonia Pansy Fuscia Geranium Campanula Phoenix canariensis Coleus

Thanks in advance for any insight you can offer.

[Chris]

If you're just going to stick them in planters, your main concern should be whether they can overwinter outside in your climate. As for soil, if you're going to just fill a bunch of planters, go out and buy bags of potting soil. It will be initially expensive but save time in the long run. In a year or so, add some slow-release fertilizer if they're still going :)

(I did not look closely at your list to see if they are all perennials or what- remember, annuals in planters will require new plants...well, pretty much annually).

Chris

[Higgs Boson]

You can go on-line and with any decent search engine, get answers to your questions.

HB