Potting on a winter show

Nick Bailey saves the best till last, ending his winter container series with a vibrant display packed with plants in rich plums and silver

- Nick Bailey

Spring is just around the corner, but with another month of gloom still to endure, why not cheer yourself up with a little colourful creativity?

This month's pot recipe shirks the damp and cold with a bright mix of beautiful foliage and flowers in tones of purple, burgundy, lavender and silver. And the best thing about this pot is that it will continue to bloom well into spring, while elevating its colour palette as the perennials and shrubs burst into fresh growth.

Go on, lift your spirits and illuminate February with some unseasonable cheer!

This powerhouse potted combo is all about foliage and flowers, combining to create a delicate, near-monochromatic planting. Each of the chosen species has a colour link to the others. The pale flowers of the perennial wallflower (Erysimum ‘Poem Lavender’) pick out the paler notes on the leaves of Heuchera ‘Silver Scrolls’, while the plummy tones of Helleborus ‘Anna’s Red’ chime beautifully with the darker, ruddy foliage of the Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Bannow Bay’. This creates a gentle harmony in the container, with the differing foliage shapes adding contrast. Altogether, the combination brings some surprising and cheery tones to the end of winter.