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04 May 2005
Ideas for your summer patio garden
By Charlie Wilkins
ATM
OSPHERE IS an elusive quality, which few gardens possess, even if they are triumphs of design and plantsmanship. Some gardens, I reckon, have no soul, no stamp of the gardener with which to identify themselves, no little quirks with which to convey the character, or true personality of the person painting the palette so as to speak. Many give the impression of being just a combination of fine plants, well-kept borders and bricks and mortar. They can be likened to houses; some become homes, whilst others simply remain as dwellings.
To make your mark of distinction in the garden, and to ensure that this scarce commodity can be found in quantity all around you, try container planting with annuals and perennials from early May!. However, do make bold statements with your choice of colour and plants, not just the same old varieties year after year. This season why not try a centre-piece planting of a young purple Cordyline (in a nine or ten inch pot) surrounded by salmon coloured Busy Lizzies or all-white petunias. Even simpler would be a single planting of Diascia rigescens in a clay pot stood anywhere about the home. The pretty salmon pink flowers of the diascia are borne in profusion along trailing semiupright stems in summer and early autumn, almost concealing the terracotta pot from which it cascades. It would look absolutely handsome!. The only stipulation to adhere to with this planting is one of diligence with watering. Another great combination could be a bowl of Busy Lizzies mixed with purple or blue verbena and some fluffy light blue Ageratum. A planting which I had last year and one which is going to be my star attraction again this year is my ‘yellow scheme’; a nine-inch clay pot filled with Abutilon ‘Golden Fleece’ (this tender perennial can be used year after year) and a number of cheap, easily sourced annuals. The creamy yellow bell-shaped flowers and large soft green leaves of the abutilon are offset by the froth of miniature snapdragons (Antirrhium pulverulentum) growing around the base and down the sides of the container. Pale yellow marigolds and petunias can also be used as a very effective under-planting. The number of combinations are limitless.
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