Single-variety Containers

Why go through the fuss and bother of matching different plants in containers when you can make the perfect display from just one variety, says Graham Rice

- Graham Rice

ONE of the great challenges of summer containers is choosing plants that look good together, and grow well together, for your tubs and baskets. It can be tricky trying to choose the right varieties so that the petunias don’t overwhelm the lobelia, for example.

The more effective approach is to turn the whole thing on its head and grow just one variety, a variety chosen for its impact as a specimen, in each container. The effect can be dramatic, whether you choose pastels or hot colours or even foliage plants.

Creating a series of specimen containers has a number of advantages. Planting just one variety in each container allows you to tailor your watering, feeding and other care to its specific needs, instead of trying to look after three or four different varieties that may all have slightly different needs, in the one container.

There’s also less need to choose varieties whose colours go well together, as you can position different varieties in different parts of the garden to avoid clashes: this makes it easy to grow the varieties you really like – even if their colours clash. And each variety can be sited in exactly the situation it likes, it can receive exactly the treatment it needs and, if it has a quiet phase when it’s not at its best, it can be moved out of the front line into a less prominent area.

Looking classy

And I have to say that a series of beautifully grown containers, each focused on just one variety, really does look classy. This is especially the case if you choose varieties that feature good foliage as well as good flowers.