GOOD COMPANIONS

This unused doorway provides me with an ideal place to pop a few plants down where they can be enjoyed closer to both nose and eye level. The overall grouping is not so important; it is more about the individuals, which might otherwise languish in flower in the nursery, unseen and unappreciated. Here I have used a few spare grasses and pots of Gaultheria to show off the gloriously flamboyant nerines. How to achieve the look

Pots are so useful for placing plants in places where they would not normally be happy. In this south-facing doorway I have used pots of nerines with grasses and gaultheria, none of which would be natural bedfellows of the nerines. However, because the pots are temporary and will be moved when ‘over’, it doesn’t matter if the plants are not entirely suited to the conditions; for the few weeks they are here they will be more than content. Nerines hail from South Africa and many species are not hardy, but cultivars of N. bowdenii, which originate in South Africa’s Drakensberg Mountains can reliably withstand temperatures down to -15ºC. I have chosen two N. bowdenii cultivars – ‘Nikita’, which I like for its subtle colouring, and the bright, tangy-pink ‘Isabel’ – that contrast nicely with each other. The bulbs should be planted – whether in open ground or in pots – so that their necks and shoulders are above soil level. If the bulbs are planted any deeper, flowering can be delayed a year. Like many of these South African bulbs, once settled they should not be disturbed, and they seem to enjoy a degree of overcrowding. From late summer, loose umbels with up to ten flowers with wavy recurved petals appear on erect leafless stems and last for many weeks. The flowers also offer a faint musky scent, so consider placing the pots where the fragrance can be appreciated. Strappy foliage appears once the flowers fade and persists through winter.