Difficult gardening
Summer to early autumn
Full sun
Moderate watering
Feed every two weeks in the growing season with a general-purpose fertiliser
Difficult gardening
Summer to early autumn
Full sun
Moderate watering
Feed every two weeks in the growing season with a general-purpose fertiliser
Slatted trellising painted a subtle shade of grey-blue is ideal for screening and disguising a large expanse of brick or concrete wall. Any type of trelliswork calls for embellishment with a climber to soften the effect and enhance the space. Here, I used star jasmine, a pretty evergreen climber with creamy, highly scented star-shaped flowers that bring a touch of the exotic to any scheme. You also have the added benefit of glossy dark-green leaves that often turn dark red in winter. Star jasmine prefers shelter from cold winds, making it an ideal plant for a display in an enclosed courtyard. The velvety flowers of chocolate cosmos – named for their delicious chocolate scent – bring a rich and sumptuous tone to this large-scale planting display. The deep chocolate-red flowers of ‘Chocamocha’ have an even more pronounced chocolate scent. Equally enticing is ‘Sea Breeze’ fleabane, which produces masses of mauve daisy-like flowers with large yellow centres throughout the summer, making this perennial perfect for a feature planter such as this. I love the rustic beauty of COR-TEN steel planters, but they can be expensive. Here, I used a fibre-glass planter and applied a rust-effect paint. I then coated the planter with a rust activator, which will add a layer of rust. It will gradually get rustier over time – at a fraction of the cost.