Complement the flower colours of old favourite, Fuchsia ‘Brutus’ with soft-purple nemesia blooms and purple-green sage foliage. Sage makes a good foil for ‘Brutus’, with its textured leaves in a variety of dark tones, which can also be picked for use in the kitchen. The nemesia will flower non-stop over a long period if you keep deadheading it regularly. Once the display is over, the sage can be moved into the garden, or transferred into a pot of its own. If you can’t find nemesia, this display would also work well with annual verbena or purple petunias.
Place a layer of broken terracotta pot crocks in the bottom of the pot, and then three-quarters fill with compost.
Plant the fuchsia first, in the centre of the pot, with the sage and nemesia plants around it. Firm plants in well and add more compost if necessary.
Water the pot thoroughly and allow to drain fully before moving to its final position.
The sweet-smelling irises should be in flower by late-winter if the weather is mild. Before then, you can enjoy the foliage combination of the needle-like iris, the filigree English ivy and the crimped fern. If you plant up this container feature in autumn you can use iris bulbs; if you wait until spring, simply buy pots of iris. Yo
If deadheaded regularly, pretty bellis daisies will keep flowering for weeks, offering a colourful display through spring and into summer. The English ivy in this pot recipe can be planted in the garden when the display is past its best. You Will Need
The hardy winter-flowering varieties of pansy are the best bet for winter and spring containers as they’re rarely without blooms, even when other plants are shivering in the cold. The flowers look stunning set off against the golden foliage of the thyme, around the olive tree as a centrepiece. You Will Need
In this pretty container display we’ve combined the gorgeous foliage of Pelargonium ‘Frank Headley’ with Senecio cineraria ‘Silver Dust’, which contrasts beautifully with the dark-leaved sedge and ipomoea. Throughout summer, the pelargonium will flower continually, providing further colourful contrasts, while the ipomoeas will trail gently over the sides.