Ok, this one's a pot rather than a plot, but hey, I make the rules, right?
I spotted this container at Garden Organic at Ryton, near Coventry at the weekend. It's certainly got volume, but what do you make of the planting mix? I didn't manage to catch much of the pot itself, but as I recall it was a fairly plain terracotta or stone job.
Just add your thoughts below: please start with a "hot" or a "not" so I
can tally the votes.
HPON? Number five, at Kingston Maurward in Dorset, was the first plot to get the thumbs up from you discerning readers, with 13 "hots" and a couple of "tepids" from those awkward beggars among you.
If you want to look back at all the previous HPONs, go here.
On a slightly different note: the apple and pumpkin day at Ryton (which I mentioned in my piece for Weekend last Saturday on gardens to visit for autumn highlights) was great fun, albeit cut short due to an increasingly poorly child (who was nonetheless mesmerised by the Coventry-based Morris group Elephant Up a Pole, who were performing that day).
Anyone aware of my previous rants about lack of refreshments in gardens will be relieved to hear that Garden Organic has a wonderful organic restaurant plus a good cafe. We didn't get much time to see the gardens, but I did ogle and consequently desire an amazing giant Chinese quince (Chaenomeles cathayensis - see below): imagine the jelly you'd get from that fella!
Hot! Can't beat a bit of tropical-ish planting, especially when it's as grey/miserable as it has been in Manchester. I'd possibly lose the pelargoniums, but we can't have it all, I suppose..
Posted by: Melanie | October 07, 2009 at 04:10 PM
Hot, if only because it's a pot that thinks it's a garden and I'm all for over-exuberance. It looks like someone had far too many plants left over from something else and had to stuff them all in if their life depended on it. 'I will get this succulent thing in even if I have to break its roots to do it.' Eccentric and marvellous.
Posted by: alex | October 07, 2009 at 04:31 PM
Yuk yuk, say no more.....
Posted by: anne wareham | October 07, 2009 at 04:40 PM
Not. Looks like the plants were selected during a "trolley dash".
Posted by: The Garden Monkey | October 07, 2009 at 04:41 PM
Thanks for commenting, Anne, but I really would like you to say some more! Why don't you like it? I really want to know...
Posted by: Jane Perrone | October 07, 2009 at 05:06 PM
Not, It is a bit too "busy" for me. The plants look like it was just whatever was left from another job. I work at a flower shop and I hate it when customers pick the flowers themselves and want this many colours in it. They are always asking me what goes with this, and I want to say "Nothing".
Posted by: Deborah at Kilbourne Grove | October 07, 2009 at 06:29 PM
Not - just far too busy, and clashing, and quite frankly looks a little crowded for the poor plants.
Posted by: Dawn/LittleGreenFingers | October 07, 2009 at 06:44 PM
Not. Euw... I just want to rush in and liberate the poor aeonium. It deserves better.
Posted by: Arabella Sock | October 07, 2009 at 07:25 PM
Not. Too many different tones crammed into 1 pot.
The Aeonium and Pelargonium could be taken out, possibly the plant at the bottom too and it would still look generously planted.
Posted by: VP | October 07, 2009 at 08:31 PM
Not. I don't mind lushly over-crowded pots, but this is just a horrible mish-mash of textures and the colours clash unpleasantly.
Posted by: Jane in Edmonton | October 07, 2009 at 09:33 PM
Hot - I like the idea that it could be an entire garden all in one... and would never be boring.. great for flat dwellers.
Posted by: Helen | October 08, 2009 at 10:14 AM
Hot one for me. Like the colours and the fact that if you've got a pot why not fill it! Is that mint in the middle area?
Posted by: plot44 | October 08, 2009 at 12:52 PM
Hot. I can imagine this on the balcony of an apartment (sorry, a flat!) where there is limited room. You've got to make the most of a small amount of space. I like the mix of colors and textures. It's very informal, like a cottage garden in miniature.
Posted by: Ed | October 08, 2009 at 01:26 PM
Not. Way too fussy, no zingy colours, no order or structure to it. A bit of an "explosion in a garden centre"
Posted by: Woody Wilbury | October 08, 2009 at 08:01 PM
Hot. Not sure why since I don't usually go for this kind of thing, but I think the summery colours go together well. Maybe I like it because SAD is setting in and it's nice to see something bright!
Posted by: Gwenhwyfar | October 09, 2009 at 09:21 PM
Not. I'm not into orderly, tidy gardens or plots but even I think this one is horrid. Just seems a bit too much of a mish mash.
PS. If you're after fab refreshments while garden visiting, you should go to West Dean gardens (she says bossily). Have you ever been?
Posted by: Deb@carrotsandkids | October 12, 2009 at 05:47 PM
P(l)ot looks like a shop display piece. NOT
Posted by: Chris Knight | October 12, 2009 at 10:50 PM