Go potty with containers for versatile seasonal displays. Our expert explains how
WORDS: SUSIE WHITE; WWW.SUSIE-WHITE.CO.UK, @COTTAGEGARDENER. PHOTOGRAPHS: SUSIE WHITE; GRAPHICS: SHUTTERSTOCK
Every year I plant up containers on either side of the front door with colourful plants for a cheerful greeting.
Over winter there are violas, ferns, hellebores and ornamental grasses. In spring there’s an explosion of vibrant tulips and I love playing with different colour combinations. In summer it’s hot colours such as bidens, dahlias and perennial wallflowers alongside cooler nicotiana and cosmos.
Getting creative with planters is great fun and they offer limitless possibilities for transforming your outdoor space. When choosing containers, you can combine different materials and textures but a limited palette brings cohesion.
Weathered terracotta pots, the grey of aluminium cans or wooden boxes, baskets, slate or old enamelware, these all have soft tones. I love the look of aged terracotta and have collected clay pots over the years from Freecycle and my local Facebook selling pages.
Alternatively you might choose all your pots in shades of blue or red but keeping to one colour gives a coordinated look.
Use peat-free compost, adding gravel for sun-lovers such as lavender or succulents. This also makes the pot heavier and less likely to tip over. Lay curved crocks, coffee filters or mesh over the drainage holes to stop the compost falling through.
When I replant pots for the next season I recycle the compost, mixing it with fresh, having checked it for vine weevil.
Glorious Tulips
For the last few weeks my tulips have provided me with dazzling colour. I planted them to come up through a background of orange violas. That way, I had something to look at in the cold months followed by the tulips pushing up through them. Some years I combine tulips with wallflowers for their delicious scent and warm tones of burgundy, red-orange or gold.
I ordered the tulips in autumn, holding off planting until November to reduce the possibility of tulip fire, a disease that disfigures them. I buy them from sarahraven.com because I found the bulbs to be reliable and in exciting colour ranges. I choose varieties that can natura
