Sunny container combo

The beauty of container gardening is trying new plant and colour combinations every year.

Here’s one I liked so much, I may recreate it again:

• 1 red-edged green New Zealand flax (Phormium cultivar)
• 1 golden box honeysuckle (Lonicera nitida ‘Baggesen’s Gold’)
• 1 weeping brown sedge (Carex flagellifera)
• 1 bronze-leaved sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas ‘Sweet Caroline Bronze’)
• 2 gold lantana (Lantana ‘New Gold’)
• 4 red French marigolds (Tagetes ‘Safari Red’)

These 10 plants filled an 18-inch (45-cm) diameter terracotta pot, sited in partial shade.

The flax bulked up in a couple of weeks and provided more height to the composition. Only the lantana and marigolds needed occasional deadheading to keep the pot looking spiffy.

– Beckie Fox