GARDEN NOTES

Everything you need to know to get the most from your plot

ON SUNNY AFTERNOONS towards the middle or end of May, it’s time to turf out fading spring bulbs from their pots and refill with some promise of summer to come.

Last year I snapped up several pots of Euphorbia ‘Diamond Frost’ (see above) at a charity plant fair. Although not winter-hardy, it is a reliable annual, sending out clouds of white flowers and continuing to look lovely with little fuss until the first frosts. A good companion is ivy-leaved pelargonium, which I nurture over winter in the greenhouse. ‘L’élégante’ is pretty, with white flowers veined with purple, and silver and green leaves. I might add a scented-leaf one, too, to be savoured when I brush past. Fibrex (fibrex.co.uk) has a huge selection. Again for its sheer just-get-on-with-it good behaviour, I will push some trailing verbena in between them. ‘Superbena Burgundy’ is an attractive shade and I like the pinks, reds, purples and whites of ‘Quartz Mixed’. Just for a bit of fun and texture, I’ll add a purple fountain grass (Pennisetum x advena ‘Rubrum’) in the middle this time. It throws up lots of tactile furry pink-purple flower spikes that wave in the breeze above its rather smart burgundy leaves. It always takes a while to get the right composition but summer-planted pots reap such rich and long-lasting rewards that it is most definitely worth the effort.

Everything you need to know to get the most from your plot in May