2 days ago
Plant a patio potager
If your patio is warm and sunny in winter, it is quite possible to grow a selection of edibles in pots and hanging baskets. What's great is that they are close at hand for easy harvesting and care.
The basic principle behind a potager is selecting companionable plants, that attract beneficial insects or repel pests, stimulate each other's growth or just enhance each other's flavours.
Admittedly a winter garden has its challenges, but there are hardy winter herbs and veggies that thrive in the cold along with colourful edible flowers.
Winter care
Use good quality potting soil that drains well and feed weekly with a liquid fertilise to ensure a steady supply of nutrients. Keep the potting soil moist but not soggy.
Hanging baskets should be suspended within easy reach at shoulder level for watering and harvesting. There is nothing more satisfying than picking fresh herbs or baby leaves as a garnish for the evening meal or the salad bowl.
Bright and breezy
Flowers supply much needed colour in winter, especially those with edible petals or fragrance to attract pollinators. Some say that the stickiness of petunia leaves discourages aphids.
Viola 'Tiger Eye' is quite different from any other viola with yellow and black striped blooms like the markings of a tiger. It's a novelty plant for containers and hanging baskets and its petals make an eye-catching garnish. Boost its flower power with a liquid feed once a month.
Fragrant powerhouse
Rosemary is a powerfully fragrant herb with many uses. Just rubbing your hands over its leaves and breathing in its aromatic fragrance helps to relieve stress.
It is a classic flavouring for roast chicken and lamb and sprigs and flowers can be infused in marinades, herbal vinegar, oils and dressings. If used sparingly rosemary is delicious when added to stewed apples, sorbet, cakes and biscuits.
'Simply herbs' Rosemary is a patio herb that is available as an established potted plant. Place the pot in a very sunny position and let the topsoil slightly dry out before watering. The more the plant is trimmed the bushier it gets.
Winter sunshine
Calendula Bon Bon comes in shades of apricot, yellow and orange. Plants are bushy and compact with large double flowers. Perfect for pots in full sun. The petals are edible and can be used as a garnish. Cut off the bitter white portion at the base of the calendula petal where it was attached.
Cold hardy
Kale Vates Blue Curled is a curly leaf kale that is compact enough to be grown in pots. Its curly blue-green crinkled leaves have a delicious mild flavour and are a source of vitamin A.
The colder it is, the sweeter the leaves which can be harvested individually, like spinach. Sow two or three seeds in a pot and keep the strongest seedling. The others can be transplanted into other pots. Other leafy greens like Swiss chard and lettuce grow well in pots too but need bit more shelter.
Magnet for bees
Petunia 'Bees Knees' has trumpet-shaped blooms that attract butterflies, nectar-sipping birds and bees. The unfading yellow blooms cover this spreading plant, and potted specimens can be placed in positions that receive full sun or semi-shade. It has medium water requirements.
Quick and easy
What's great about chives and garlic chives, coriander, mustard and rocket that they grow easily from seed and are quick to harvest, mostly within two to three weeks for the first leaves. Chives and garlic chives in particular work well in window boxes.
Sow seed into a pot with mix of seedling mix and sieved compost. Firm down the seed, cover with a layer of potting soil and keep damp while germinating. The trick is to sow thickly and harvest from baby leaf onwards. Just make sure that all herbs get the maximum sun and keep the soil lightly moist.
Find plants at your local garden centre or order seeds online or via email orders@
Article and images supplied by Alice Coetzee.
For more on gardening, visit Get It Magazine.
