Now that most of us are dedicated plant parents and hardworking gardeners, it is important to learn how to plant them right in pots so that the flowers bloom all year round.
On a balcony, or in awkward sideways or paved yards, containers become the closest thing we have to flower beds. I treat them a lot the same way I treat my garden beds now and expect no less from one: color, interest and texture all year round. If anything, last winter the pots looked better than the shy perennials lurking around the edges of the lawn.
Get the plant right and you will be endlessly surprised by your pots, which get much less attention than the rest of the garden. These reliable, long-planted containers are my gardening equivalent of old friends, the ones at whose houses you can spice up in a tracksuit, with a bag of Doritos and demand to watch Bake Off. No wonder I have been lifting them around three different apartments, and countless stairs, over the past five years.
If this sounds like you, read on to find out my top tips on how to plant your pots for optimal flowering.
to build foundations
Start by taking a good, hard look at your growth space. None of the balconies I grew up on were large, but each had a handful of different aspects: morning sun, afternoon sun, rain shadows (where overhead cover keeps things dry), and deep shade. Everyone can be ingrained, but it is important to understand these limitations before you start buying plants.
Wind can also be a factor on roof gardens and higher balconies, and should not be rejected – it is drying up, and can make minced meat from more delicate plants that need shelter.
However, if you work with a brick-walled corner, you will have higher temperatures than elsewhere on your plot. Be honest with yourself about how much sunshine your space actually gets. Partial shade means three to six hours of strong direct daylight in summer; full shadow is anything else. If you have a fully exposed space, this is also noticeable.
These conditions will help steer you to the beginning of your plant palette. It can help to think of comparative situations in nature: coastal and dry gardens, for example, can be a brilliant steer for exposed roof terraces (if this is you, I highly recommend visiting Derek Jarman’s garden at Prospect Cottage, result by Beth Chatto’s Gravel Garden).
By contrast, I delved deep into bushveld planting as I tried to work out what would flourish on my shady balcony.
To make a container look good all year round, you will want a base of hard-working perennials. For faux-woodland conditions, my go-tos are ferns, heucheras, hellebore and, of course, the plectranthus.
But if you are blessed with more sunshine, grasses, sedums and artemisia will also work well. Look for something that will be in leaf for most of the year: flower is a bonus, and a fun one, but by embracing the beauty of leaves you will enjoy your pot longer.
low up
Next to these larger plants you will want something that sits flush with the top of the pot or, better yet, tumbles over it – again for most of the year. Small ivy, muehlenbeckia, soleirolia soleirolii (also known as mind-your-own-business) and even ivy leaf toad flax and herb robert do the job perfectly and have root systems that are not too intrusive.
A mixture of these two categories of plants will do the job well, but added excitement comes with seasonal perennials lurking beneath the surface and popping up for a season or two.
I love hostas, persicarias like ‘Red Dragon’ and ‘Purple Fantasy’ and Oxalis triangularis ‘Purpleleaf False Shamrock’, but have also played with angelica and lamium in the past. They are all shade-tolerant, but Erigeron carvinskian ‘Lavender Lady’ fennel and scabies can be beautiful in sunny places.
I also count light bulbs in this category: a little fanfare in the darkest days.
My more evergreen containers are also treated to occasional visitors: muscari, Ipheion uniflorum ‘Froyle Mill’, iris, fritillaria and dwarf narcissus – ‘Pheasant’s Eye’ is a current favorite – which does not overwhelm the balance of things. But if you have less green going on over the winter, go wild with tulips and daffs; nothing is more joyful on the less than sunny days.
dress top
Finally, annuals. If you have space or fancy the novelty of a new color, sowing a few seeds – ideal for things that don’t quite take over, such as nasturtiums and viola – can brighten up your pots. Just popping in a few plug-in plants ordered from a catalog. For sunny spaces, overwintering pelargoniums can be brilliant sources of fragrance and interest.
How much of each plant depends on the size of your container, but sticking to your plant palette will create a greater sense of opulence. I stick to a handful of plants and repeat it over all my containers, the effect is more cohesive in every corner of the garden. In a smaller space, it is even more crucial.
As for suitable containers, I strongly encourage you to get the largest you can afford and / or accommodate, and ideally no smaller than 40 cm in diameter – you can get perennials in them, but they will dehydrate faster.
In terms of maintenance, I really meant it about the Doritos Bake Off set: get the right plant palette and they will be very happy with minimum effort. Deadhead and cut back any brittle pieces, water thoroughly in dry times and give a generous mulch in late fall and again in spring; a thick layer of organic compost will do.
Your biggest enemy will be vineyard calender, who enjoys peeking around in containers: watch out for acting nibbles on leaves and apply nematodes to keep them organic in the bay.
Year-round container combinations for different aspects
volskadu
Ferns (Penlan Perennials make brilliant peat-free combinations)