Container Plants and Gardening

In this article, we will be discussing how to grow the clump-forming herbaceous perennial of Aruncus in containers. It is hard to believe but it is actually a member of the rose family. It is a small group of species, where the botanists cannot agree if one or four species exist.

The recognised species is Aruncus dioicus (Goat’s Beard), whilst Aruncus aethusifolius, Aruncus gombalanus and Aruncus sylvestris are not recognised by all botanists. They are native to woodland areas in the Northern hemisphere in cold areas.

They are noted for looking like a giant Astilbe but instead, they produce feathery …

In this article, we will discuss how to grow the dainty perennial of Armeria in containers. This is a plant that belongs to the Plumbaginaceae family the plumbago family, where over a hundred species are known to exist. Most are naturally found growing in the Mediterranean, with one species  A. maritima found naturally growing in coastal regions of Ireland and Cornwall.

The plant looks great mixed with other plants and bulbs in a container, where the grassy-like evergreen leaves are densely packed into hummocks. Above the sea of leaves, dainty round clusters of pink/lavender/white pompon–like flowers are borne on top …

In this article, we will discover how to grow Arisarum in containers. In a previous article, we discussed how to grow Arisaema in containers, a member of the Arum family, but now we turn our attention to another member –Arisarum. This is a plant that is native to the Mediterranean regions, especially east of the Caucasus and West of this area.

It is a rhizomatous hardy perennial that produces the typical arrow-shaped, glossy and long green leaves often found with plants in the Arum family. It is grown for the novelty factor because the flowers that appear in spring- …

In this article, we will discover how to grow the Arum-like plant of Arisaema in containers. I know that I discuss a wide range of plants, some well-known and widely grown, whilst others you will not find easily but still can be grown in the UK. This is one of the latter and great for those who like to grow the unusual.

Arisaema is a large group of flowering plants that belong to the Arum family where they are found growing naturally in China and Japan. They can also be found in South Asia, Central Africa, Mexico and in eastern …

In this article, we will discover how to grow the bulb Anthericum in containers. Anthericum is a rhizomatous perennial that belongs to the Asparagus family. Not often seen in garden centres or online but it is a plant that has been known for centuries.

The plants in this genus have narrow, strap-like green leaves from which tall spikes of star-like white flowers with yellow anthers appear. It is a genus that is often found growing in Southern Africa and Europe. It may sound familiar to many houseplant growers as the spider plant, Chlorophytum used to belong to this genus.

You …

In this article, we will discuss how to grow Anacyclus in containers. They are members of the Aster family where over 32000 species are noted to exist.

It may be surprising but this hardy alpine perennial is not very often seen in the garden but this should change as it is a delightful plant. It has the common name of Mount Atlas Daisy, Spanish Chamomile or White Button. They are small alpine plants that only grow up to 5cm high and produce white or yellow daisy-like flowers.

As the plants are small and have a rosette of prostrating stems that …

In this article, we will discover how to grow the hardy perennial of Anthemis in containers. It is a member of the Aster family and is therefore noted for the numerous daisy-like blooms that they produce.  The flowers and the finely divided green leaves tend to be aromatic, where they tend to be found growing widely in Mediterranean regions and Southeast Asia.

It has the common name of chamomile or dog fennel or even Mayweed. Each bloom that is produced has a central predominant golden boss, surrounded by white or pale yellow or yellow or orange petals, depending on the …

In this article, we will discover how to grow the wonderful hardy perennial of Anaphalis in containers. It is a flowering plant that belongs to the Aster family where 110 species are known to exist and are mainly found in Central and Southern Asia. This is one species native to North America (Anaphalis margaritacea) which is also a popular cultivation that you can find. Its common name comes about because the flowers and stems when dried make great decorations throughout the winter months.

This is the main reason why pearl everlasting is grown as the flower stems are a flower …

In this article, we will discover how to grow the spectacular perennial of Agapanthus in Containers. This is one plant that should be grown in containers, as they produce tall stems of blue, purple, white or bicolour blooms in summer. They are original from South Africa where they are normally called the Lily of the Nile or African Lily.

They are universally loved for the globe-shaped flowers in summer and you can see why. Agapanthus can be either deciduous or evergreen depending on what species are grown. The deciduous varieties are much harder than the evergreen and therefore more suitable …

In this article, we will discuss how to grow Alstroemeria in containers. They may be best known as a commercial cut flower but they can be successfully grown in containers as well. The common name of Peruvian lily or Lily of the Incas reveals its origins in South America.

This hardy perennial is well known for producing vividly coloured flowers from June to August. The flowers can be red, orange, purple, pink, yellow and even white.

The flowers are borne in clusters on top of leafy stems and often have very attractive patterns, marks and freckles on the inner petals. …