Ideas for outdoors(ish) planters please!

I'm looking for ideas for my planters. My Torbay cordylines are 'on their last legs' and I'd like to replace them with another hardy 'exotic' or similar.

The planters are outdoors but located in an open porch, so they are sheltered from the harshest weather. Ideally, I'm looking for something that is evergreen, attractive in large black planters and with rougly the same dimensions of a Torbay ie not too much of a spread. If it helps, we live in Kent.

Does anyone have any ideas? If not, its back to the good old corylines!

thanks in advance, Floyd

 

not evergreen, but cheap and looks good during the growing season (and is exotic):

Tetrapanex rex (T-Rex)

Ricinus (castor oil plant), but not good if children are present as it's poisionous

if the pot size is decent, a decent evergreen palm such as Trachycarpus Wagnerianus in a suuny position, or a fatsia if it's in shade (there is a fatsia spiders web which is more interesting, but very slow to grow)

loads more, but thats a start

 

i'd go with dim suggestions for starters, then there's a washington robusta (which i put a pic on your thread in the tropical section)