MY FAVOURITES TO GROW
1
Place a bench along a sunny wall with two pots of tumbling rosemary symmetrically either side. Not only does it provide a fantastic scent, it’s lovely to cook with and wonderful for the pollinators. It’s also evergreen and very drought-resistant – perfect positioned in any south-facing spot.
2
Mixing whites and greens brings a torch into dark areas of a shady garden. Hydrangeas are brilliant for this. Tobacco flowers can also tolerate shade and have real impact. Nicotiana alata ‘Grandiflora’ and Nicotiana sylvestris are perfumed, and look wonderful in pots with some ferns below them.
3
Trachelospermum jasminoides takes sun or shade, and is incredibly fragrant in July and August, with jasminestyle scented flowers. They’re droughttolerant, evergreen and can grow from pots to cover fences, walls or sheds. Great where you have neighbours on each side.
4
For small spaces, try scented leaf pelargoniums, particularly ‘Attar of Roses’, which is popular for its distinctive rose-scented foliage. They will have to come in on a windowsill for the winter, but they also make fantastic houseplants.
5
Erigeron karvinskianus, Mexican fleabane, is one of the easiest plants to grow from seed for small pots. It’s perennial, flowers in the first year, and it’s drought- and sun-tolerant.
6
For larger pots in spring, I recommend tulips as an easy option. For a 30cm pot, you want 30 bulbs, for a 45cm, 45 bulbs, and for a 60cm, 60 bulbs. Plant them in layers, like a lasagne.
7
Dahlias are the most wonderful summer and autumn pot-fillers.
At Perch Hill, we have bred varieties specifically for pots. Try ‘Abigail’, ‘Josie’, named after our head gardener, and ‘Rosie Raven’, named after one of my children. They’re long flowering, easy to look after and virtually indestructible.
8
For large spaces, I would grow tender perennial climbers.
I love Thunbergia alata ‘African Sunset’ mixed with apricots and purples (such as Rhodochiton). Making them a tepee using some canes has a huge impact from a distance.
9
Dahlia Molly Raven combined with a really tall vertical annual such as Hibiscus acetosella ‘Mahogany Splendor’ is a great option if you’re looking for a showstopper. Hibiscus ‘Mahogany’ looks like a maple tree and is brilliant for foliage – both in the garden, in containers and as a cut flower.
10
For best value for money, grow your pots from seed. Choose a couple of plants that will provide you with flowers in the first year – perhaps dahlia ‘Bishop’s Children’ and verbena rigida. They’re wonderful colours, have a five-month flowering season and they’re both perennials, so they’ll last you forever – a winning budget option.
✢ A Year Full of Pots: Container Flowers for All Seasons by Sarah Raven
(£27, HB, Bloomsbury Publishing) is out now.
✢ Visit Perch Hill Farm, East Sussex, for open days in May and throughout summer. Sarah is also running courses from April onwards – see sarahraven.com for more.