Extra height, succulents, leafy plants with a tropical mood, unusual bulbs and tender treasures: anything is possible in a container. Here, five experts reveal their favourite plants for pots
WORDS VIVIENNE HAMBLY IMAGE GAP/CLIVE NICHOLS
Coralie Thomas
Raised in New York, Coralie worked at Wave Hill Garden in the Bronx before joining the team at Great Dixter House & Gardens in 2016, first as a scholar and now as assistant head gardener
Pelargonium ‘Frank Headley’ is one of my desert-island plants. It’s a compact zonal pelargonium with clean green-and-white variegated foliage, and it produces peach-pink flowers all summer long. It’s visited by elephant hawk moths here in summer.
Origanum ‘Rosenkuppel’ is reliable, tough and develops bright pink flowers all through summer. Although it’s hardy, its aromatic foliage dies back in winter. It holds an RHS Award of Garden Merit and is a good food source for bees and butterflies.
Cylindropuntia imbricata is hardy and surprisingly easy to grow. Being a cactus, it has a different structure and texture to most other pot plants, so it’s distinctive. Its flowers are striking magenta.
Carex muskingumensis has the thin green foliage of a sedge and provides an attractive backdrop in a pot display. It occurs naturally in wet locations, so it will need a damp container. It can grow up to around 70cm, so keep it to the rear or sides of a container.
The hot pink flowers of Salvia ‘Pink Pong’ bloom all summer. It’s hardy, needs full sun to thrive and can grow up to a metre tall, so it needs a large container. Bees and butterflies love it.
The umbel Chaerophyllum azoricum flowers in May and June, but at other times its coarse-cut leaves are an attractive feature.
Francoa sonchifolia ‘Pink Giant’ has evergreen foliage with tall flower spikes topped with pale pink flowers that have a splash of magenta on their throats. It’s a perennial plant best sown in spring.
Easy-to-grow Agave parrasana has broad blue leaves and an attractively compact shape that makes it a great candidate for a container. Just don’t let it get soggy in winter.
In mild climates, curly-leaved parsley is a fantastic evergreen. Use it in a pot as a base layer under tulips – it’s also wonderful to be able to take a few leaves from it for salads over the winter.
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