'Tis the season for containers

Celebrate baskets of colour and patio pots

- Ruth Hayes

AT this time of year it is almost impossible to visit a garden centre or nursery and not come home with a lighter wallet and heavy basket of plants. It is prime planting time and now the weather is pretty much reliably warm enough for summer bedding, many of which are frost-tender, it is time to fill containers and baskets with a bright and beautiful selection.

Calibrachoa, Bidens, Lobelia (trailing and bushy), trailing pink Centradenias, petunias bushy and trailing, pelargoniums, fuchsias, osteospermum – we are spoilt for choice.

Choose plants that look healthy with lush green leaves and lots of flower buds. Buy some with a few flowers in full bloom for instant impact, but it’s the buds that will provide the colour over the coming weeks.