Guest Author - Hellie T.

You can have pots of plants and bulbs on your patio or in your yard all through the year. Some of the easiest flowers to grow are annuals and if planted in the spring will give you a glorious display throughout the summer until the first frosts.

One good tip is to place pots of annuals with some potted evergreens and/or perennials which will create that abundance of flowers that is so traditional in an English Garden.
You don’t need very many to give an instant effect.

All these flowers are easy to grow in pots and containers

Annual Phlox - is very easy to grow and comes in a wide range of colours.
Annual Delpinuium or Larkspur - plant up a large cotainer of these dwarf flowers for a wonderful display.

Antirrhinum or snapdragon - you can get these in pastel shades which look marvellous when planted in large pots.
Marguerites – argyranthemum - these look good when planted with verbenas and petunias.

Cornflowers – centaurea cyannus
Forget me nots - large pots of these are excellent when mixed with pots of tulips.
Impatiens or busy lizzies - grow with trailing lobelia, cornflowers and Nicotianna.

Lavatera or mallow - creates a stunning container and it is very easy to grow.
Lobelia especially the trailing sort.
Marigolds (pot) - these look good with nasturtiums or try planting blue salvias with them. Marigolds flower for a long time.

Morning Glory or Ipomoea - which you can grow up canes in containers or allow to trail down from hanging baskets.

Nasturtiums - plant with marigolds for a cheerful display.
Nicotianna the dwarf ones are best and they have a lovely evening scent.
Pansies - these are marvellous and the winter flowering ones can be potted up with ivies for a winter display.

Petunias - these look good planted in large pots grouped with lavender or with salvias, marigolds and trailing lobelia..
Sweet peas, both the climbing and dwarf varieties

Sweet Williams have a traditional fragrance all of their own - choose the hardy annual seed not the biennials ones.
Verbena - grow with scented pelargoniums and petunias(if you have the space the pelargoniums can be brought indoors for the winter and be reused next year).Verbena has a lovely scent so place it where you can enjoy its evening perfume.

Viola or heartease these can be grown in pots by themselves or used as edging around salvias, cornflowers or sweetpeas grown up canes.

If you are able to then grow your own seed as this is the most economical way of getting plants for your English Garden. A packet of seeds often has 40 to 400 seeds!

However not everyone has the space and time for growing trays of seedlings.In garden centers you can buy plantlets or bedding strips in packs of 6 to 20.

These can then be planted in your containers in the spring ready for the summer - but do make sure that they are safe from any risk of frost – use horticultural fleece to tuck them up at night if you have any doubts about the weather.(the fleece is readily available from garden centers and is reusable)

Don’t forget that your containers will need regular watering each day - try to water first thing in the morning or in late evening.
Pour the water onto the compost not the leaves.

Also to get the best and longest effect you will need to dead-head your flowers regularly.

For more info on using roses in containers click here

Enjoy your garden!