Spring Pot Luck

Sandra shares some of her favourite plant combinations to capture the exuberance of spring.

There’s something sublime about early spring; the energy is almost palpable. Watch, smell, and feel it. I have been experimenting with various plant combinations and containers to achieve the perfect picture of spring. It’s fun, it’s creative, and it’s rewarding. After the bare stems of winter, it’s incredibly exciting to watch the garden come into new leaf and flower.

1 P​ansy ‘Antique Shades'



1 Pansy perfection

This pansy is called ‘Antique Shades,’ and it looks lovely in a mossy old terracotta pot. It’s a popular variety, so you need to order it from your local garden centre in time for planting in mid-autumn. I plant this annual every year—it’s my favourite pansy—using a high-quality potting mix. Remember to remove the spent flowers to encourage more blooms. Provide it with plenty of morning sunshine for good growth and vibrant flowers.

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2, 3 Branching out

Our collection of potted Japanese maples truly makes an impact with their new spring growth. Most are potted in terracotta, giving the collection a uniform look. Some are trained as bonsai, and all have erupted into new leaf.



In our collection, we have the lace-leaf variety, Acer palmatum ‘Dissectum Hana Matoi,’ with leaves variegated with pink and cream. Even finer is the lace-leaf maple, Acer palmatum 'Ornatum Roseum,' recipient of the prestigious Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society for its outstanding qualities, featuring delicate, ferny, lace-like leaves.



Potted maples need protection from strong wind and fierce sunlight. They also require careful watering, especially during the summer months. Therefore, they thrive in a protected courtyard or terrace. We repot our collection every three years to re-energise them. Choose a container with a large drainage hole that’s big enough for the root system to develop but not too big. When potting, cover the hole with fine wire mesh. Set your pot up on pot feet to facilitate good drainage.



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Acer palmatum 'Dissectum Hana Matoi' looks elegant in an aged terracotta pot.

4 Double the shine

The magical combination of hellebore and heuchera makes this rusty bird nest sculpture truly shine. Both plants have sculptural foliage and beautiful flowers. Helleborus ‘Penny’s Pink’ blooms in winter and spring with deep plum-coloured flowers. It’s one of the best releases in recent years, with long-lasting blooms that contrast beautifully with its luscious foliage. Heuchera ‘Peach Flambe,’ with peach-bronze foliage and creamy flower spikes, is just one of many new varieties. Both plants make fine companions, loving morning sun but needing protection from fierce afternoon sunshine.



This heuchera, with its pink reverse on the leaves, makes a handsome pot plant. Heucheras grow into neat clumps with deeply lobed foliage, available in a variety of colors: vibrant lime, chocolate, pink/red, burgundy, and deep purple. They flower from late spring to autumn, producing erect wiry stems with tiny flowers usually in shades of white, cream, or pink. However, they are primarily loved for their gorgeous foliage. Heucheras can be divided every few years to rejuvenate and multiply.





An ornamental bird's nest punctuates a sea of hellebores and heucheras.

5 Made for shade

A pretty combo for shade features a common fern that has colonised parts of our garden. It teams beautifully with cryptanthus, a slow-growing, star-shaped succulent with thin, curved leaves growing in rosettes around a central stem.



This cryptanthus has spiky blue/grey foliage that contrasts well with the delicate fern. To add a touch of color, I planted a Viola ‘Heartease.’ Keep this arrangement in the shade and just moist, not too wet. I love this ribbed container that looks like concrete but is a lightweight composite.





A muted-grey, lightweight pot allows this fantastic combination to shine.

6, 7 A winning combination

A grey concrete container is perfect for this combination of lavender, bacopa, sedum, echeveria, and daffodil. I’ve used Lavender pedunculata ‘Sensation,’ but any dwarf lavender will do. The trick is to choose plants with contrasting foliage textures. I’ve included a reddish echeveria for its crinkly leaves, stark white-flowered bacopa to spill over and soften the scheme, and a dwarf sedum with compact, tight foliage. The hero of the arrangement is the dwarf white daffodil ‘Thalia.’ This combination needs plenty of sunshine. 





Mixing contrasting flower and foliage textures makes for an eye-catching disaply.​





Dwarf sedum offers a wonderful foliage contrast.