Author: Antonio Pachowko

In this article, we will discuss how to grow the unusual and rare Amsonia in containers. Amsonia are flowering plants that belong to the Dogbane family and is primarily native to North America. It is named after the American physician, John Amson and has the common name of Bluestar due to the star-like blue flowers that are produced on tall stems in early summer.

In early spring, willow-like foliage starts to emerge from slow-growing leafy clumps. From these leafy clumps in early summer, spikes of star-shaped blue flowers appear that cover the plant. As the flower fades, the leaves in …

In this article, we will discover how to grow Ammobium in containers. Ammobium’s name may not be familiar to most gardeners but once you see the flowers then you will instantly recognise the plant. It is a plant that is native to Australia where the most known species that grows there is Ammobium alatum.

The common name is winged everlasting where each upright stem has distinctive wings. On top of these stems are button-like blooms that have an outer ring of white petal-like bracts and at the centre, there is a prominent boss of tiny yellow or orange true flowers.…

In this article, we will discuss how to grow Acidanthera murielae in containers. You may know them as Acidanthera but they have been moved to Gladiolus murielae and have the common name of Abyssinian gladiolus.

It is actually a member of the Iris family and like so much in that family, it is a tender bulbous perennial with long, narrow, sword-like green leaves that die back after it has finished flowering. The leaves are nothing special but the 5cm wide, star-shaped flowers with white petals and a purple blotch at the base of each petal, are. The flowers appear in …

Aethionema is a flowering plant that belongs to the Brassica family and has the common name of Stonecress.  The genus itself has 60 species within them, where over 40 of them are found in Turkey.

The common name of stonecress comes about as the plant has a creeping habit as it normally grows on stony ground. The plant originates from the mountainsides in Europe and West Asia, where it normally grows in limestone rocks.  It is normally a shrubby evergreen or semi-evergreen perennial with a mat of fleshy blue-green or grey leaves. On top of these leaves, sprays of tightly …

In this article, we will be discussing how to grow the wonderful and colourful hardy annual of Agrostemma in containers. It has the common name of corncockle, which is a delightful sounding name for a plant.

It is an excellent plant for cottage garden schemes or for those who like wildlife plants, It is a plant that is commonly found growing in the UK in the past but not so much today due to changes in agricultural measures that has somewhat reduced the plant frequency in farmlands. Agrostemma does have a tendency to self-seed everywhere but growing in containers they …

In this article, we will discover how to grow the perennial Agastache in Containers. It is a plant that is native to the plains and prairies of North America and so you can imagine is a tough plant. Let us get something straight, although it has the common name of hyssop on its name, it is only related to true hyssops and mint very distantly. After all, they are members of the Lamiaceae family (the mint family).

It is a tender perennial that has aromatic green leaves and on top of these colourful spikes of blue or purple flowers appear. …

In this article, we will discuss how to grow the notorious Aconitum in containers. You may wonder why I have called Aconitum or Monkshood, Wolfsbane or Aconite to give its common names, as notorious, the answer is because it has a reputation of being toxic to humans, with the possibility of death.

This is exaggerated as very few gardeners die after handling it, as long as you do it with great care.

It is a firm favourite that in nature is found growing in meadows throughout the Northern hemisphere. It is grown for its deeply divided green leaves and for …

In this article, we will discuss how to grow the beautiful foliage and bloom plant of Achilleas in containers. Achilleas or yarrow or Milfoil as it is commonly known, are border perennials that are grown for their feathery foliage and the tiny, flat plated flowers that appear on top of the leaves.

The flowers that are traditionally produced en masse tend to be yellow but they can be white, pink, red or cream. The leaves make a great alternative to other perennials that have broad leaves and so will make a great addition to the container garden.

It is an …

In this article, we will be discussing how to grow the creeping herbaceous evergreen perennial plant of Acaena in containers. It is actually a member of the rose family with 60 species being known but certainly, it does not look like one. It is native to New Zealand, Australia and South America with only a few species growing in the northern hemisphere.

Acaena is a low growing perennial that is great for covering cracks between paving slab stones and providing ground cover between plants or cascading over the edges of containers.

The leaves tend to be small or large, from …