![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/18\/2023\/03\/GILLJakyPotsTwo-301880v3-cb62838.jpg?quality=90&crop=7px%2C2016px%2C3590px%2C2391px&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> How to achieve the look<\/h2>\n
Half barrels make great containers, but scale of planting is the key to success. A minimum pot to plant height ratio of 1:1.5 is preferable. The oak of this barrel has aged to a beautiful silvery-grey enriched by the rusted iron bands holding it together. The muted colours will enhance any planting scheme. I keep a permanent collection of large shrubs<\/a> in aged oak barrels at home as they allow sufficient soil for a long-term planting and require less watering<\/a>. Ensure good drainage by placing crocks over holes drilled through the base. I used John Innes No.2 compost<\/a> incorporating plenty of leaf mould as these perennials<\/a> prefer a humus-rich soil positioned in partial shade<\/a>.<\/p>\n In late summer the Actaea<\/em> will produce tall, narrow plumes of pink buds opening to white flowers. These are followed by lime-green seed pods. The pale greenish-pink pincushions of the Astrantia<\/em> \u2018Buckland\u2019 make it an excellent cut flower<\/a>, as do the scented pink umbels of the Pimpinella<\/em> and the creamywhite flowers of Orlaya grandiflora<\/em>. This self-seeding annual can be sown in autumn and spring, to produce a constant supply of flowers. For contrast I\u2019ve added a dark form of Geranium<\/a> phaeum<\/em> with inky-purple flowers, similar to G. phaeum<\/em> \u2018Raven\u2019. Reduce its tendency to self-seed and encourage repeat blooms by cutting back after flowering.<\/p>\n 1 Pimpinella major<\/em> \u2018Rosea\u2019<\/strong> Non-spreading, herbaceous umbellifier. 90cm. USDA 5a-8b\u2020. Flowers May to July.<\/p>\n 2 Astrantia<\/em> \u2018Buckland\u2019<\/strong> An exceptionally free-flowering sterile hybrid so won\u2019t self seed everywhere. 60cm. USDA 5a-9b. May to August.<\/p>\n 3 Geranium phaeum<\/em><\/strong> A herbaceous perennial that is tolerant of a range of conditions including deep, dry shade. 60cm. USDA 5a-7b. May to July.<\/p>\n 4 Actaea simplex<\/em> (Atropurpurea Group) \u2018Brunette\u2019<\/strong> A tall, hardy, herbaceous perennial with dark-purple, serrated foliage. In late summer it produces bottle-brush spikes of scented flowers. 1.5m. AGM*. USDA 3a-8a. August to October.<\/p>\n 5 Orlaya grandiflora<\/em><\/strong> A hardy annual with ferny foliage and delicate, scabious-like, white flowers. 60cm. May to October.<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n Gardener Jacky Mills captures some of the lightness of early summer with a stunning container displays containing Actea, Astrantia and geraniums. Words Jacky Mills, Photographs Andrew Montgomery <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":20491,"template":"","categories":[1,51],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/03\/an-early-summer-container-display-using-actea-and-astrantia-scaled.jpg",1922,2560,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/03\/an-early-summer-container-display-using-actea-and-astrantia-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/03\/an-early-summer-container-display-using-actea-and-astrantia-225x300.jpg",225,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/03\/an-early-summer-container-display-using-actea-and-astrantia-768x1023.jpg",768,1023,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/03\/an-early-summer-container-display-using-actea-and-astrantia-769x1024.jpg",769,1024,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/03\/an-early-summer-container-display-using-actea-and-astrantia-1153x1536.jpg",1153,1536,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/03\/an-early-summer-container-display-using-actea-and-astrantia-1538x2048.jpg",1538,2048,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Gardener Jacky Mills captures some of the lightness of early summer with a stunning container displays containing Actea, Astrantia and geraniums. Words Jacky Mills, Photographs Andrew Montgomery","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/20490"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/18\/2023\/03\/GILLJakyPotsTwo-301926v2-0f6b50e.jpg?quality=90&crop=5px%2C1416px%2C2692px%2C1793px&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Plants<\/h2>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/18\/2023\/03\/GILLJakyPotsTwo-301940v2-de4ef0b.jpg?quality=90&crop=5px%2C529px%2C2692px%2C1793px&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
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