THREE OF A KIND

Pots are generally positioned in prominent places, so whatever you choose to plant in them needs to look good. This means changing the display regularly through the season, which inevitably means you should have multiple pots with things ‘coming on’, in readiness to bring out into the spotlight when they are about to perform. With this pot I deliberately chose plants that continue to look good for weeks, if not months, on end with very little effort.

How to achieve the look In general I find displays containing either a single plant or a combination of three plants work best. In this arrangement I have chosen three mutually compatible plants that work in harmony with each other, both in terms of ‘feel’ and flowering longevity. The overall effect is soft and diffused yet sculptural, with the slender, pale-pink brushes of the Pennisetum orientale ‘Shogun’ floating above the mound of light-grey foliage to great effect. Choose as deep a pot as possible, to get the maximum depth of soil. It must have a hole in the bottom with crocks spread over it for drainage. In most of our pots we use peat-free compost with added grit, in addition to slow-release fertiliser and vine weevil control. I like to use grit for the top of the pot as an aesthetic dressing and to aid watering; with large pots such as this you will need to water as often as three times a week in summer. Most importantly good forward planning is critical. Wherever possible you should try to get to know how your reserve bench of plants performs and when they’ll shine to ensure your pot has a seamless succession of flowering display. Throughout the season, I try to remember to take notes and make drawings as an aide-memoire of successes and failures, flowering times and the relative sociability or otherwise of the various companions. If you lack the time to do this, photographs taken at regular intervals would serve this purpose well.