Beautiful & Useful
New plants, books, tools and creative designs, plus shopping inspiration
WORDS VIVIENNE HAMBLY
Plastic Fantastic
You may not recognise the brand name, but you’re almost certain to have picked up an Elho pot in a garden centre. Elho is a family-run, B-Corp plant pot manufacturer that generates its own wind energy for pot production and will use 100 per cent recycled and recyclable plastic in all its products from 2024. New to its range is the Green Basics Strawberry Pot, specially developed to facilitate optimum growing conditions for these tasty fruits. It features a wide rim to support runners and hanging fruit, a large, easy-access reservoir to make watering easier, and raised feet to keep fruit away from pests and reduce the risk of rot. From £24, elho.com
Arts & Crafts Appeal
A family business started in 1976, Whichford Pottery operates from the village of Whichford in Warwickshire. Its mission is simple: to keep alive the old ways of working and to pass on skills that have been used before in previous generations. This ethos chimes well with that of William Morris, whose design ethic has inspired a new pot. Designed by Jim Keeling, the Kelmscott Iris Pot is named for Morris’s home at Kelmscott on the banks of the River Thames. Each pot features a trio of flowering iris in relief. Made from a mix of local clays, Whichford pots are frost-proof and come with a ten-year guarantee. Each pot is stamped with a code denoting the year in which it was made. From £68, whichfordpottery.com
A Gardener’s Guide to Climate Adaptive Gardening by Kelvin Mason
The Crowood Press, £16.99
Swales, rain gardens, green roofs,
