Top 10 Plants for Pots and Containers

AS SHE OFTEN DOES, naturalist and nature writer Nancy Lawson—perhaps known better to some of you as the Humane Gardener after the title of her first book—caught my attention the other day.

When designing a monochromatic space, there are many considerations to keep in mind to ensure that the room looks as elevated and sophisticated as possible, and we asked designers to share their top tips.

In 2024, design is taking a turn away from pastels and towards the boldness of jewel tones.

London pride (Saxifraga x urbium) is a low-growing evergreen perennial, a hybrid between Spanish Saxifraga umbrosa and Irish Saxifraga spathularis. Once a great garden favourite, London pride plant is hardy and looks good all year round, forming spreading clumps of leafy rosettes made up of spoon-shaped, fleshy, mid-green leaves. In summer masses of small, pink-flushed white flowers are borne on slender stems of around 30cm in height, lasting for up to three months. London Pride thrives in most soils and situations and is especially useful for shady sites. It’s an undemanding and versatile perennial that has fallen from fashion but is a worthwhile garden plant, being easy to grow, yet not invasive. Called London pride because it flourished on bombed sites in the city during the Second World War, it’s even the subject of a song by playwright and composer Noel Coward, whose song titled ‘London Pride’ was popular at the time.

Kathy Sandel has shared her gardens with us before (More of Kathy’s Calabasas Garden, Kathy’s Garden Transformation in Sacramento), but today she’s sharing the garden she created for her daughter in Sacramento, California.

After the torrential rains of December, it is a wonder that anything is blooming in Pacific Northwest gardens. Thankfully there are great plants that survive the downpours and even flourish when everything else is a soggy mess. Along with the plants surviving, there are insects that winter over in the trees, and they love to see the sunshine just like we do. As soon as the lukewarm sun starts hitting the trees, the groggy bees stumble out looking for some food (kind of reminds me of teenagers). It is essential that we gardeners provide early-blooming plants for these very important members of our planet. Interestingly, some bees are not at all particular about their food supply, while others are. Our goal should be to provide both native food sources and ornamental garden food sources. Nature’s creatures have a way of adapting to what is available, but they also search for specifics. The following are a few of my favorite late-winter-blooming plants for pollinators.

Selecting a perfect indoor plant gift is made easy with our Best Indoor Plants for Gifting! From the lucky Jade Plant to the low-maintenance Peace Lily, each plant, like Orchids or Poinsettias, offers unique qualities for meaningful gifts.

In his classic book Mormon Country, author Wallace Stegner noted that nineteenth century Mormons planted rows of Lombardy poplar trees wherever they established settlements in the territory that is now Utah. The trees served as windbreaks and boundary markers, but they were also the flags that marked the advance of Mormon civilization in a hostile territory. In my hometown and lots of other towns all over the United States elm trees served a similar function, marking the spread of middle class residential neighborhoods during the end of the nineteenth and the first third of the twentieth centuries. In the 1960’s almost all of those tall elegant trees fell prey to Dutch Elm Disease, making each municipality a little poorer.

Many attractive plants are suitable for cultivation in suspended baskets. For this purpose plants of a drooping habit of growth are preferable, as their pendulous stems, falling over the sides of the baskets, display the flowers or foliage to the best advantage. Hanging baskets are made of various materials; those of galvanized wire are the most popular, as they are light and last for many years. Teakwood or cypress wood baskets are used for orchids of drooping growth.

I have given up indoor seed starting completely on several occasions. The first time it happened I was a novice gardener. I had ordered seeds of just about every plant that I saw in the garden catalogs without thinking about such practical things as gallons of potting soil, hours of daily watering, and square feet of windowsill space. It also did not occur to me to determine whether or not I had room in my garden for even a fraction of my seedlings. My chaotic efforts eventually produced some wonderful plants, but the process was so exhausting that I said: “Never again.”

Unleash your inner green thumb and add a touch of elegance to your home with these stunning Plant Collection on the Shelves Pictures. Discover how to creatively incorporate plants into your decor and breathe new life into any room. Get ready to be inspired!

Some people get their kicks from designer labels, others from rummaging through flea shops, or collecting obscure Japanese comics, vintage tractors, handbags, dolls, beer-mats, Star Wars merchandise or whatever else. Me, I get mine from ordering seeds.