I’ve lost the labels for these garden variety ferns in pots.

15″ pot 164:

Pot 164: Much bigger than the Polypody in pot 182. The sori are less regularly spaced than those of the Polypody. The leaves are not attached to the stem like those of the Polypody. Could it be Osmunda regalis? No, I don’t think so, because the fronds don’t branch. See picture here.
Rob and Linda suggest Cyrtomium sp., probably C. fortunei. This seems likely. Thanks R&L. See picture here.

10″ pot 182:

Pot 182: Vaughn suggests some sort of Polypody. I’m sure he’s right, and it looks quite close to Polypodium vulgare to me.

I sometimes think I’ve got too many pots, but they’re a good use of a small space.

The cistus is surprisingly good, although only interesting for a short time.

The irises are very good, and can be moved out of the way when they’re over. How good will they be next year if I leave them in their pots?

I’ve fed these pots with tomato fertiliser. When the foliage has died down I could

1. Lift the bulbs, dry them, and store them in the garage.
2. Plant herbs or alpines over the bulbs and display as normal.
3. Stack the pots with planks between the rows.

I haven’t got room to just leave them where they are.

This is the first year I’ve tried narcissi with alpines. Will I need to lift the bulbs? ‘Dutch Master’, ‘Kinglet’, and ‘Jetfire’ were planted on their own. It’ll be interesting to see how quickly the foliage disappears in the pots with alpines. ‘Jetfire’ is already over, and the pot moved out of the way.

I have two yellow flowered brugmansias which have been in these pots for 3 or 4 years. They needed watering at least twice a day last summer. They’ve been kept in the garage since last autumn, and lightly watered occasionally.

The RHS recommended root pruning.

They came out of their (plastic) pots easily, and I sawed off the fine roots around the edges and the bottom. The soil and roots cut off half filled the pot, which was perhaps a bit more severe than I intended. We’ll see what happens

Very nice. I may leave them in their pots when the foliage has died down, or possibly lift the bulbs and store them in the garage. I ought to try some pale pink Camassia leichtlinii in pots

17 Apr 19

These tulips in pots with alpines work brilliantly. The ones flowering for the third time are still looking good, but presumably I’ll have to replace them eventually. ‘Monte Carlo’ is going over a bit, but still good. ‘Red Riding Hood’ hasn’t started yet.

I like the much-maligned ‘Dutch Master’, even though it is so common. It’s rather too big for a pot, but brilliant coming through the new growth of the thalictrum. Hopefully it’ll do the same thing next year.

Smaller ‘Jetfire’ works better in a pot. I don’t know what I’ll do with the pot-grown bulbs when they’ve finished. By the time the foliage has died down there’ll be nowhere to put them.

The symphytum, tulip and skimmia were all in the garden when I arrived, but I moved the skimmia – from a pot, I think.

The fritillaries have done much better in a pot than in a border at the back. This is the third year they’ve flowered in the same pot without any attention.

It was a wrench to cut back the epimedium leaves because they were gorgeous, but it does show off the flowers nicely.

The bellis was surplus from Dyffryn. Dame Edna would be proud.

5 Apr: the clematis is still going strong. It’s been flowering for about a month. I’m looking forward to it covering more of the rather ugly fence.