When it comes to patios, we usually dress them with outdoor furniture and BBQs. These can make a fantastic statement, but for true visual impact under your patio, nothing compares to potted plants. They can truly add another dimension that draws the eyes of all.
Creating a beautiful and inviting outdoor space starts with greenery. Whether you have a compact verandah or a spacious alfresco area, the right patio plants can instantly elevate the look and feel of your home. In this guide, we’ll explore the best patio plants to suit a variety of spaces, styles, and levels of sunlight, plus a few handy care tips to keep them thriving year-round.
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What Are the Best Potted Plants to Keep Under Your Patio?
In Western Australia, outdoor living is a way of life. From weekend BBQs to long summer evenings under the stars, your verandah, balcony or alfresco area should feel like a natural extension of your home. Carefully chosen outdoor patio plants can help create a lush, inviting space while standing up to the state’s dry summers, coastal winds, and varying soil types. But what are the best plants to kee under your patio?
To help answer this question, Great Aussie Patios spoke to Vanessa in the gardening section at Bunnings Warehouse, Maddington.
Vanessa was more than happy to walk us through some of the plants we should be looking at to make that visual impact for our patios.
Some great recommendations of plants under your patio include:
- Golden cane palm
- Dwarf date palm
- Ponytails
- Ficus
- Ferns
- Bromeliads
- Kangaroo Paw
- Zanzibar Gem
- Bougainvillaea
- Agave and Succulents
- Frangipani
- Geraniums
What Are Golden Cane Palms?
The golden cane palm is a popular choice for patio plants in WA thanks to its vibrant green foliage and love of large pots. It grows beautifully under cover and stays lush year-round, especially when protected from the wind.
The golden cane palm loves to be in a big pot and looks lush and green all year round when undercover. They do struggle a little in cold temperatures under 10 degrees so keep an eye on their leaves if they drop from being their traditional plain green to start withering during the cold weather.
If you want a bit more of a visual impact, try different size pots and group them together. Alternatively, pair them up in the same design pot and place either side of the patio to create a type of frame.
What Are Dwarf Date Palms?
One of the dwarf varieties of the date palm, this plant, when fully grown, provides a beautiful base with lush green foliage. The base has a wonderful pattern that leads up to the base of the branches. It is pretty cold hardy to cold climates and can survive up to -10 degrees.
However, Vanessa did provide a word of warning:
"This dwarf date palm does have spikes on the branches which can be quite nasty if you get pricked while trimming away dead foliage.
I have one of these dwarf date palms and I can vouch for the spikes, not the best feeling when you cop one in the finger."
However those aside it is a beautiful-looking
palm and certainly provides a tropical feel under my patio.
What Are Ponytails?
This palm gets its name from the masses of foliage that comes from the base of the bulb that looks similar to that of a ponytail, they are a great addition to a small garden design. Despite the name, ponytail palms aren’t true palms, but they’re certainly one of the best patio plants around. The cascading foliage resembles a ponytail and emerges from a thick, water-storing base (called a caudex), which makes this a fantastic drought-tolerant option.
This is best suited to a large pot with well-drained soil and as it gets larger so does the bulb at the base of the palm. This will eventually spawn smaller ponytails from the base which if left can add depth to the pot. These look great when placed in a corner in a large round pot as the foliage spreads out. You can then add smaller pots under and around to enhance the height.
This plant likes sun and we recommend putting it in full sun or partial shade on a sunny windowsill. Water deeply but rarely in the warm weather summer long and switch to little to no watering in the cool weather over the winter months.
Vanessa also mentioned that “these are great water-saving plants, as the bulb at the base holds a lot of water to ensure it never gets to dry.”
What Are Ficus'?
Getting away from the palms another plant that is well suited to life under a patio is the ficus. They are available in a variety of names that all produce stunning leaf colouring that is also green all year round. Keep in mind they do need to be kept in full shade in your patio area.
These are also well suited to pots and are easy to maintain to whatever height you want them to grow at, including from hanging baskets. You can add different varieties of ficus to give you a real depth of colour and again with the ability to create height with various pot sizes.
What Are Ferns?
Ferns are a great filler to an empty space, or if grouped together can make a large visual impact on their own.
Given the large selection of ferns available, they can be used to fill large, tall pots that look bare especially like those of say a palm.
They make a great hanging basket as they can be made to look plump and full of green foliage.
Many species of fern prefer full shade but depending on the type of fern you go for it may be looking to thrive in part shade or partial sun.
Placed above, around or in other patio plants the varieties of ferns add a real depth of greenery and depth thanks to their evergreen foliage.
What Are Bromeliads?
Bromeliads bring an exotic splash of colour to any alfresco plant setup. With bold flower spikes in fiery reds, oranges, and golds, they add drama without taking up too much space.
These plants provide you with a bit of the exotic - these are gorgeous plants that have even better flowers. These flowers range in a variety of bright colours, such as a beautiful red orange, deep red and stunning gold. They are great in shallow pots which are great if you are trying to group different pots together or use patio containers. They typically thrive in nature under bigger trees and the partial shade that comes with that.
Water every couple of weeks (making sure to include watering the centre) but don’t overwater. You don’t have to stress too much about underwatering as Bromeliads are decently drought tolerant.
These particular plants produce smaller growths known as pups. These pups can be removed and cared for ready to be planted into their own pot.
Vanessa gave us this advice on the Bromeliads:
“These will often begin to die off after a couple of years, however if you have taken the pups and placed them in pots these can take the place of the original bromeliad from which they came.”
Kangaroo Paw Patio Plants
Kangaroo Paw is a colourful native that does really well in sunny spots, making it one of the best patio plants for WA gardens. It thrives in full sun and needs well-drained soil. If you’re planting in pots, make sure there are plenty of drainage holes and use a sandy or native plant mix.
These outdoor patio plants don’t need much water once they’re established. Just give them a drink when the soil feels dry. They bloom in spring and summer, and the flowers attract birds, making your patio feel more alive.
Place them in a sunny corner or line a few pots along a fence or wall for a bold visual effect.
Zanzibar Gem Patio Plants
Zanzibar Gem is one of the easiest verandah plants to care for. It handles low light, needs very little water, and stays green all year round. That makes it perfect for shaded patios or covered alfresco spaces where other plants might struggle.
It prefers indirect light and does best in warm, dry spots. Avoid overwatering, wait until the soil is completely dry before watering again. If it’s kept in too much sun, the leaves can turn yellow, so it’s best placed under cover or on a shady verandah.
Use medium to large pots and enjoy the low-maintenance greenery it brings to your patio.
Bougainvillaea Patio Plants
Bougainvillaea is a hardy plant that loves full sun and thrives in warm, dry conditions, which makes it ideal for Western Australian homes. It grows well in large pots with good drainage and needs very little watering once established.
These bright and colourful patio plants do best with at least six hours of sunlight a day. They can be trained to grow as climbers or used in pots where they’ll spill over the sides.
Bougainvillaea is perfect for creating a vibrant feature wall or adding colour to a sunny patio area. Just prune it back after flowering to keep it tidy.
Agave and Succulent Patio Plants
Agaves and succulents are tough, water-wise options that suit WA’s dry, sunny climate. They’re great for pots, rock gardens, and modern alfresco plant ideas.
They need full sun or part shade and well-drained soil. Avoid using regular garden soil in pots; use a cactus or succulent mix instead. Too much water can lead to rot, so always let the soil dry out between watering.
These outdoor patio plants look great in shallow or decorative pots, and mixing different shapes and colours creates a great focal point.
Frangipani Patio Plants
Frangipanis are a favourite in WA for their tropical look and sweet-smelling flowers. They grow well in large pots and are ideal for sunny patio or verandah areas. These plants love full sun and prefer well-drained soil, use a sandy potting mix to help with drainage.
They’re drought-tolerant but benefit from regular watering in summer. In winter, they lose their leaves, which is totally normal. Just move them to a warmer, sheltered spot if you’re in a colder area.
A pair of potted frangipanis on either side of a patio entrance makes a beautiful, welcoming frame.
Geranium Patio Plants
Geraniums are bright and cheerful patio plants that bloom for most of the year in WA’s sunny climate. They’re great for pots, hanging baskets, or grouped in planter boxes. They do best in full sun and need well-drained soil.
Water them when the top of the soil feels dry, more often in summer, less in winter. Deadhead old flowers to encourage new blooms. Geraniums are also very hardy and can handle a bit of wind, making them a solid choice for more exposed verandahs or outdoor patio areas.
Choose different colours to brighten up your alfresco space or mix with trailing varieties for layered interest.
One Last Word
Vanessa also gave us this great advice:
“All these plants are great for those of us that are kept to busy or pushed for time, they tend to look after themselves quite well with little to no attention. All of these plants provide lush green foliage all year round and all will happily live under your patio and don’t forget to use different pots to provide that visual impact in or around your patio.”
Great Aussie Patios would like to Thank Vanessa and Bunnings Warehouse in Maddington for their help and advice on these plants.
My Plant of Choice
I thought I would add one more to the list of plants that will live happily under your patio and one that you may have never thought of.
A pineapple is a great plant for your patio as it will grow just about anywhere, with direct sunlight or even indoors, which means pots.
They are ridiculously easy to grow and don’t take much care. They have a long thin leaf and will grow in very shallow pots also.
This is because the fruit (the pineapple) grows above the plant itself.
I have anywhere to five or six pineapples growing at the moment and if I can find space I’ll keep growing more.
When they are ready to fruit the flower is spectacular and then you will begin to see that beautiful fruit take shape right before your eyes.
They only fruit once in their lifetime and then begin to die, however before they do they produce baby plants from the crown which then have the ability to spawn their own fruit.
You may struggle to find this one around garden centres but don't fret, you can just buy a pineapple from the local shops with the crown still on it, just simply cut this off with a bit of the pineapple and plant it in the ground or the pot and that's it. Its ease and beauty makes this an easy favourite for my pick for the best patio plants.
I have anywhere to five or six pineapples growing at the moment and if I can find space I’ll keep growing more.
When they are ready to fruit the flower is spectacular and then you will begin to see that beautiful fruit take shape right before your eyes.
They only fruit once in their lifetime then begin to die, however before they do they produce baby plants from the crown which then have the ability to spawn their own fruit.
If you buy a pineapple from the local shops with the crown still on it, just simply cut this off with a bit of the pineapple and plant it in the ground or the pot and that's it.
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