Stumped? A cottage garden on a balcony, plus a climbing houseplant | Gardening

Traditional pot plants for a sunny balcony and a climber for an indoor pillar

I’ve just moved into a flat with a south-facing balcony – I’d like to fill it with cottage garden-style plants, but don’t know where to start.
Cottage garden plants are mainly herbaceous perennials, and not traditionally grown in pots, but there’s no real reason why you can’t. You’ll need to divide them more often (every couple of years) than if they were in the ground, and also water and feed lots. The nice thing about growing them in pots is that you can rearrange them at will, shifting into a corner those that are past their peak and bringing others to the fore, or trying different combinations. Such lovelies that lend themselves to pot culture include dianthus, potentilla, heucheras and hosta. Look for dwarf species or cultivars of other regulars, such as shasta daisy ‘Snowcap’, Euphorbia polychroma and hardy geranium ‘Ballerina’ (pictured). Pot up several of apiece to create “drift” effects.

Our home has a central pillar in the living area, and we want a houseplant to climb up it. It gets partial sun on one side and no direct sun on the other three. We have cats, so need something non-poisonous.
The chunky, retro 70s foliage plants such as monstera and philodendron, which would look astonishing up a pillar, are poisonous to cats, so go for Cissus antarctica, the kangaroo vine – it is vigorous and tolerant of a range of conditions – jasmine (Jasminum polyanthum, say) for scented flowers, or a tender, exotic passion flower. Attach wires to the pillar for support.

You respond

Rectangular terracotta pans for alpines continue to elude most of us, but Angela Thomson from?Stone in Staffordshire grows succulents in a terracotta saggar (a?firing tray used in the pottery industry) purchased from Coalport China Museum,?Ironbridge Gorge, Shropshire. They’re sold only on-site, so I’ll keep?hunting for a?mail-order option.

• Got a gardening question for Lia? Email space@guardian.co.uk

Read the original post:
Stumped? A cottage garden on a balcony, plus a climbing houseplant | Gardening