Container Gardening

Do you think this could be some kind of Begoina rex?If it is, its growing out of character, it should have larger leaves and shorter stems. I'd go for high humidity but fairly dry at the roots, they are easy to drown.Good indirect light, but no sunlight at this time of the year.I wouldn't...

Fantastic advice - thank you. I did wonder this morning if I should indeed be drying out the plant to reverse the effects.It's raining like mad here now which is the last thing I need! Tomorrow is another day...

Hello! Thanks for your reply. I appreciate it. Great ideas! I was going to just scatter wildflowers but I wondered if the birds might eat them?! The last time I scattered seeds there was nothing left the next day! I think I'll do what you advise and plant them in pots first and then plant them...

The basket idea is fabulous and I'm really loving all of your photos. Thank you everybody for taking the trouble to reply.

Thanks Lucius - the "system" seems to be working - planted over three weeks ago now and haven't watered once - but the plants seem to be doing well - growing, putting out flowers

It may need feeding. At this time of year we tend to water and water not thinking about the fact the nutrients in the soil are being washed out each time.I agree with Spruce though this type of shrub would be better planted in the ground.

Plant it immediately in a nice fertile piece of deep rich moist soil and water well. Make sure it's sunny. It'll be touch and go in any case. You seem to have two plants there, I'd discard the smaller one if I were you.

Lovely! Really nice scheme there. May I ask what the brightish pink one in pics one and two is? Thank you.

Many thanks for last two comments jenny and spruce - to be honest plant choice was nothing to do with bees - just happen to like the cottagy/wild look and limited myself to a blue/purple/pink/white palette - but the lazy droning sound is quite pleasing in a way - insectly industrious but at the...

The sources I have read contradict each other, RHS says "any soil", others say "Acid" and indeed one said that soil must be alkaline! Most say "well drained" but some say prefers clay ...FWIW my 2p-worth would be:Seems to grow slowly when young. I think it might be worth raising it in a pot...

Ooh, I love it! Thank you for sharing the photos, it looks lovely. Also love the strategically placed book :D

Agreed. Just to confuse matters some things like to be pot bound - so it would help to know what they are (or set a challenge by uploading a Photo and asking for an ID )

In Florida this is a low-growing shrub (2-3' max) that thrives in shade and dappled sun. One of my neighbours here in UK has an indoor Schefflera about 2m in height and quite thick and bushy in circumference. I was fascinated by the difference. Never would've imagined a Schefflera would do as...

That pot does look very small so the first thing I would do is re-pot it into a larger pot with ericaceous compost or else put it in the soil. Rhodos are shallow rooted which means the roots spread out just under the surface rather than downwards so I personally would give it a much wider pot....

How large is the file? If its too big, it will time out before it gets there, so it wont load.Is it scaled down to no more than 800x600?

i would re-pot it as it looks quite big I would do it now rather than later then it will produce more flowers. Try not to disturb the ball roots too much though so be careful

Thanks for responding Spruce. The pot is on our patio, a few yards from the house and in an open position but with a small 1 foot brick wall behind it, which is well below the level of the top of the pot. We live just outside Bristol on the Somerset side, so we do get a fair amount of rain...

Hi Simon, you have a lovely looking garden and that outdoor furniture no doubt makes it a nice place to sit and have dinner on sunny days. Have you considered getting a gazebo for covering though in case it rains? Then you can stay outside still and be protected and keep the elements off that...

For a pot that size you want something with a lot of impact and also height. How about a fruit tree of some sort?You can get all different sized ones nowadays and they benefit wildlife more than people realise.