DiasciaThe sunny weather of late has made me determined to plant up more containers for summer color. I walked around the garden the other morning and counted ten large terracotta pots that are empty and that was not including the containers that are in the garden shed! There are several broken ones as well so they will do as drainage ‘crocks’ in the bases!
A visit to my local garden center left us with a dilemma – too many half hardy plants to choose from! Half hardy perennials that are raised from cuttings have been my preferred choice for summer containers for a number of years now. They seem to be much more weather proof than the old annual varieties and flower for much longer – after all an annual plant is designed to flower and set seed in one year, so once it has flowered its mission is accomplished!
We made the decision to plant up the containers with three or five of the same plants or a mix of a similar color. By doing this, we can move the containers around the garden or group some of them together and rearrange the combination if we fancy a change.
Nemesia took our eye in bright pink. This little charmer has clusters of sweetly scented flowers on upright stems that look like miniature Snapdragons. Nemesia are available in a range of other colours, including smoky red, pure white and blue shades many of them scented. Diascia have been one of my favourites for a long time and many of the bedding varieties are hardier than they look – we have had several that have come through some of the harder winters outside with no protection. The clusters of flowers are more open than Nemesia but still on upright spikes. The plants make a low mound and will trail slightly in a hanging basket or over the edge of a pot. There are varieties in an unusual mauve blue and others in pale blush pink that I would not be without. They look great planted in a container on their own where they will make a soft mound of stems bedecked with flowers for months.
The delicate daisies of Brachyscombe are another must have plant for our containers. ‘Strawberry Mousse’ is a pretty deep pink with narrow leaves of bronze green and there are plenty of soft mauve varieties as well. Like the Diascia, these beauties make low mounds of wiry stems smothered with plenty of flowers and look great planted in a group of the same variety in a pot.
Finally, the flat heads of Verbena are hard to resist in a huge range of colours from white and pale silvery blue to deepest plum purple and bright red. Most are low growing and suitable for the edge of a container or to trail in a basket. They are also very attractive to bees and other insects.
Now that we have bought our plants home, I am watering them carefully and using organic slug pellets around them. First I must mix two bags of compost with slow release fertilizer ready for the big plant up over the weekend!
Happy Gardening!
Mr McGregor
