MAY 2 017151
EASY CARE FOR POTS
AND BASKETS(^1) Use a good potting mix
or homemade compost;
cheap potting mixes can be
a water-repelling mix of
sand and sawdust.
(^2) If you won’t get around
to watering every day in dry
weather, use self-watering
pots or baskets.
(^3) Add slow-release plant
food according to the packet.
“Ever-generous” means you
must feed generously too.
(^4) Choose a spot they love.
Check the label: hot sunny
windows that suit plants in
cold climates will burn foliage
in hot areas. In the right spot
your plant will thrive.
Pots that just keep giving
E
veryone can
have a
generous
garden. If you
have a sunny
windowsill, hang baskets.
If you are broke, use tin
cans and put in drainage
holes. If you have a patio
that gets four hours of sun
a day, or wide steps, pots
are a great garden option.
Most generous veg
for pots
Red-stemmed Italian
chicory Tall, slim, elegant
and great in salads or
stir-fries. It’s beautiful enough to be
a display pot on your windowsill.
Bronze fennel Ferny and delicate, its
aniseed flavour suits salads or fish.
New Zealand spinach This NZ delicacy
is superb in quiches and soups but
first needs blanching for 30 seconds
in boiling water to remove oxalates.
Cherry tomato If planted in spring and
again in late summer, the new plants
will keep fruiting in a sunny spot
such as a windowsill or glasshouse.
Most generous fruit for pots
Winter rhubarb With ornamental red
stems, this survives the cold and loves
hanging baskets.
Dwarf lemon or lemonade trees These
mostly crop in winter, but if you pick
the fruit regularly they’ll repeat-flower
with a few throughout summer too.
Passionfruit Glossy leaves and pretty,
fragrant flowers are
followed by delicious
fruit. Ensure the vine
has a support structure
to climb on.
Most generous
flowers for pots
Dwarf grevilleas Small
ever-blooming varieties
include Lady O and
Deua Flame. They grow
about a metre high.
Dwarf bougainvillea
The bright bracts
that surround the tiny
white flowers keep
their colour in a sunny
spot, or for nine months of the year
in cold areas.
Spreading petunias Place in a frost-free
spot (such as a sunny windowsill) and
if they die down in winter they will
come back in spring.
Calendula spp Modern calendulas
come in oranges and yellows,
singles and doubles.
Most generous herbs for pots
Garlic chives These don’t die down
like ordinary chives.
Spring onions Clip the tops to chop
into salads and stir-fries and the
clumps will get larger every year.
Rosemary Choose a prostrate
rosemary with bright blue winter
blooms and evergreen fragrant leaves.
Lipstick chillis Bright-red fruit, purple
flowers and a perennial bush that’s
gorgeous when trimmed neatly. AW W
You don't have to have rolling lawns and lush beds; all you need for garden glory
are pots – as many as you can manage, says Jackie French.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALAMY AND ISTOCK.
[ Clippings ]
May is the time to...
● Fall in love with early camellias... and plant a hedge of your favourites. ● Hunt out less common autumn
glories: Clematis tangutica, with its feathery seed heads that hang all through winter; the glowing gold and
orange of witch-hazel leaves; feathery blooms of goldenrod. ● Harvest fat pumpkins, a million chokos, late
apples and pears, pomegranates and orange persimmons. ● Plant fast-growing wombok, mitsuba, mizuna,
Chinese bok choy, small red radishes, broccoli and early onions. ● Feed lawns and water in well for winter.