I have quite a few pots of flowers on my lanai in lush Hawaii!
I recommend Hibisbus, Dianthus, Lavender, and Violas if you want easy blooms that stay around nearly all the time. The flowers I mentioned I've had at least six months now and they always have color without nearly any stress on my part. Of course, the Hibiscus is the exception as its blooms only last one day, but it usually has more budding right behind them!
Pictures:
I can go into detail if need be, but I LOVE container gardening and haven't had much issue with my flowers. They tend to be easygoing as far as I've seen.
I don't personally have to worry about winter, so I'm lucky, but if you have a winter where it doesn't freeze I can see these beauties pulling through, except the Hibiscus.
