Potty about Pots

You have chosen your selection of clean pots and containers; prepared them with crocs for good drainage, good compost (ready mixed with a little slow release fertilizer) and you are ready to plant.

What will you use – this is the exciting bit – summer is over and our thoughts turn to autumn and winter. Do you want dwarf conifers; evergreens with variegated foliage; small shrubs; structural plants; one specimen or many, one colour or a mixture to brighten the dark days ahead? Why not visit your garden centre and see what they are planting up.

How do you want to arrange your outdoor space? Pots in pairs make an impact around doorways or standing on steps? If you want a mixture of pots put tall plants at the back and smaller ones in the front. Tall structural plants such as cordyline, yucca, phormium, evergreen perennials are all suitable. They can be bronze, purple, yellow striped etc, grasses like blue fescue : hebe’s and the smaller sedums, dwarf daisies, hardy cyclamen, house leeks and the winter favourite flowering pansies to mention just a few of the choices, which can be mixed or grown in single pots.

Here are a few thoughts for Christmas planting, for a larger container:-

1. A yellow variegated osmanthus, with a couple of green ivies and one yellow/green ivy. Add dwarf daffodils and dwarf yellow iris.

2. A Euonymus surrounded by hardy cyclamen.

3. A dwarf conifer surrounded by heathers, with yellow crocus to add colour.

4. A yucca, or yellow variegated thyme, with some blue Reticulata iris and some deep yellow crocus.

5. A phormium with yellow variegation and some red dwarf tulips and yellow dwarf wall flowers.

In spring hyacinths, primulas, Lenten roses, tulips, cowslips and violas can all be added to the container to replace the early flowering bulbs.

If you only want one early specimen, why not choose a dwarf evergreen shrub such as a skimmia – it would be happy in ericaceous compost. If you make room for one male and two or three females, you will get brilliant red berries from the females in winter and the male plant has sweetly scented white flowers, opening from pink buds in the spring

Happy potting!

[ Back to The Potting Shed ] [ Back to In and Out of Doors ]