At this time of year, we want our balconies and patios to reflect the warmer, sunnier weather. It’s a little early for the full on, high-kicking summer show, but there are plenty of options to plug the tricky gap between spring and summer. The key to success is to provide a balance of evergreens and annual bedding as well as aromatic herbs that will ensure plenty of lively, fast-growing and fragrant action.
INDISPENSABLE EVERGREENS
Think of evergreen shrubs as an investment, providing valuable all-season foliage, year after year. Give them the importance they deserve, planting them in roomy terracotta or ceramic pots, and use them as a backdrop as well as a foil for summer’s vibrant flower colours. The following, with eye-catching foliage, are stars in their own right.
Convolvulus cneorum: This outstanding Mediterranean shrub’s silvered foliage positively shimmers in the sunshine. Soon, in late spring, it will be smothered in dainty, small white trumpet flowers. Two or three in separate pots, dotted here and there on the balcony, will light up the whole space.
Abelia grandiflora : A small ornamental shrub that is perfect for pots. In variety Kaleidoscope, variegated yellow and lime-green glossy leaves take on orange and red hues in autumn, while in summer, you can expect aromatic, pink-tinted white flowers.
Pittosporum Golden King: One of the finest pittosporums, with crinkly, grass-green leaves on fine mulberry-tinted stems, and, in late spring and early summer, ruby red bellflowers that smell sweetly of honey.
Choisya White Dazzler: This striking variety of Mexican orange blossom has dense, filigree-fine green foliage which is covered in fragrant white flower clusters in spring and again in late summer. No surprise that it carries the RHS Award of Garden Merit.
FRAGRANT HERBS
Check out the herb section of the garden centre or nursery for fragrant thymes and oreganos that have fascinating foliage, dainty flowers through summer and are eminently clippable for the kitchen. Purple sage is a bit of a thug for a container but narrow-leaved, grey-green sage – Salvia lavandulifolia – is a great choice. Moroccan mint is the one to seek out for the best flavoured mint tea, while applemint has the softest apple-green leaves scented with apple and mint; a few leaves as decoration make any dessert special. Rosemary, upright or trailing, is an essential that adds texture and fragrance to any container collection, and at this time of year, given a sunny spot, is smothered with sky blue flowers.
BRING ON THE BEDDING
If you want droughtproof plants, which translates to less watering for lazy container gardeners, grab a pack of osteospermum, now starring at your nearest garden centre in packs of either four or six, ready for potting up. No need to buy pricier single plants, because these South African natives grow quickly. They are robust, free-flowering plants that will last for months and, because the daisy-like heads are large, deadheading is an easy task. The colours are dazzling, including super-chic bright white varieties that have contrasting navy blue centres.
Geraniums, aka pelargoniums, are making an early appearance and, with the likelihood of a frost increasingly unlikely, are a safe bet to plant now. Although the cheery, upright scarlet variety is the obvious choice, seek out the balcon varieties that trail becomingly over the edges of tall pots and windowboxes, and are available in stunning shades of soft rose, lilac and deepest claret. Like the osteos, pelargoniums thrive on little watering, though all bedding benefits from a weekly dose of tomato feed for maximum flower power.
TABLETOP DELIGHTS
It’s so important to have something gorgeous at eye level to enjoy, which is where an outdoor table – however small – comes in very handy. Nothing looks prettier than a potful of dainty, sweet-scented Dianthus, better known as pinks. You can currently find ready-planted bowls – in synthetic terracotta that fool the eye – of massed violas in lively spring shades including lilac, lemon and violet. With a little deadheading, both of the above choices will last for weeks, far longer than the price of a bunch of flowers.
It’s too early for English lavender to bloom but not too early for French or Spanish lavender Lavandula stoechas, which has grey-green foliage and, right now, densely-packed oval heads of purple flowers. Variety Pedunculata has decorative, fluttery lilac tufts on top, which is why it’s sometimes aptly labelled as Papillon, the butterfly lavender. They look great in simple terracotta pots, so treat yourself for the table, and savour that highly aromatic fragrance to remind yourself that summer is well and truly on its way.
