Carol Klein says it’s time to freshen up your pots
Give containers a new lease of life with a colour boost to see them through the next few months
This year started off cold, miserable and late but has made up for itself with several episodes of warm, even hot, weather that have concertinaed growth and brought plants on rapidly. Though in some cases we had to resow a few of our half-hardy annuals because they didn’t have enough light and heat early on, the next sowings have romped away.
Some of our big containers and pots, where we’ve used tender plants, are looking a little tired and though plants can be given a fillip with a good feed, there’s a lot to be said for exchanging some plants that have passed their peak with new young ones that will flower continuously through to the frost.
In large terracotta pots where bulbs had made an early show, tulips and narcissi can be lifted and replaced with dahlias or verbena. Sometimes we’ve had the wherewithal to plant replacement pots with surplus perennials. Golden-leaved agastache and Patrinia scabiosifolia will go on flowering through to late autumn with healthy foliage an extra bonus.
Grasses, such as Stipa tenuissima, can sometimes begin to look dry and dusty by July, especially in pots, but can be lifted and planted elsewhere or potted on individually. They’re perennial and jettisoning them from pots need not mean the end of their lives. They can be planted elsewhere or potted up to resuscitate them. On the other hand, if you have fresh plants of soft grasses, such as stipa or Hordeum jubatum, they can be added to pots to bring a filmy touch. A meadow feel can be created even in a pot by mixing them with small-flowered scabious or Trifolium ochroleucum.
In some cases, plants can be added that intensify the effect of a major player in the container. To add zing to some of the bigger pots out on the terrace where dahlias and eucomis are playing a central role, we can bring a bit of spicy detail by adding marigolds, both French and pot; tagetes and calendula sharpen up the planting. We avoid double marigolds because most of them are useless to bees and pollinating insects.
Two of the best singles are ‘Old Scotch Prize’, with striped petals, alternate mahogany and bright yellow, and one that Tom Coward at Gravetye Manor, calls ‘Cinnabar’. Initially he gave us some seed and now we collect our own. Several seed firms
‘There’s a lot to be said for exchanging plants that have passed their peak with new young ones’
offer single tagetes. We’re also on the look out for a bronze coleus to add to the impact.
There are numerous heucheras with bronze or purple foliage that add volume at the edge of pots and make a dramatic contrast to vividly coloured flowers. Some have almost golden-brown leaves that are to some people’s taste, but not mine. They’re difficult to place without looking a bit poorly. Round-leaved plants like these make a good contrast to spikey subjects, including eucomis ‘Sparkling Burgundy’, or any of the smaller phormiums so often used as a centrepiece in mammoth containers.
Speaking of big pots, Lilium regale has finished flowering in the large container we used inside our enormous copper pot so we’re replacing it with eucomis and seed-grown dahlias with dark leaves.