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Growing ceanothus in containers?

   Probably would have been advisable to ask about this before they arrived, 
but...
   I'm now the proud owner of sixteen 2x6" tubes from Forestfarm, which may 
prove the germ of a doctoral thesis, though that's hardly established as yet:
   C. americanus, cordulatus, cuneatus, gloriosus, hearstiorum, impressus, 
integerrimus, lemmonii, sanguineus, cordulatus, dentatus, prostratus; also
'Blue Cushion,' 'Concha,' 'Dark Star,' and thyrsiflorus 'Louis Edmunds' and 
'Skylark.' More could be added in fall, as well as from other sources.

   The first trick, obviously, is keeping them alive. I've had 'Concha' 
before, kept it 2-3 years probably in Sunshine peat-based mix, and it 
made a fairly sizable plant but barely bloomed and eventually succumbed
- both no doubt due to poor treatment in winter as I had no access then
to a greenhouse.
   But that's one of the more water-tolerant cultivars, and quite a number
of others are apparently not so forgiving. Anybody here with experience 
growing any of these in containers/planters?   I'd assume a coarse, bark-
based medium like Metro Mix 700 would be called for, possibly amended with 
one part additional perlite, but can certainly manage something more extreme
if that would be desirable.
   It may well be - I also assume that their fabled drought-tolerance 
doesn't extend to the total dessication that could be achieved in a tub
of soilless mix, so imagine some summer water will be necessary regardless 
- or will it?

   Next question, of course, is how long various forms take to bloom.
C. americanus out in the hills here will bloom as a very small plant, and 
several of those from FF are in bud - probably no guarantee of anything,
but most do appear to be last spring's cuttings.
   Finally, how well do ceanothus tolerate pruning? Generally well enough
as near as I can discover, but would appreciate any thoughts on the really 
severe pruning needed to keep a collection under glass.

  BK---
  A madman, baying up at the sun from the top room of the lunatic asylum,
  could not disturb them, and their tunes did not stop when he thrust his
  hands through the bars of the window near their nests and clawed the sky.
     Spring is come, said the warders.
              (freely adapted from The Mouse and The Woman by Dylan Thomas)
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