Planting a Drought Resistant Box

When it comes to creating containers that will flower during the summer holiday season, then the plants need to be tough and able to shrug off healthy neglect. Few plant families better fit the bill than ornamental grasses, and as for a perennial that thrives in the most inhospitable places, then look no further than Verbena bonariensis, which now comes in a delightful miniature form called ‘Lollipop’. Plant ‘Lollipop’ in the centre of a sturdy wooden crate, so that its spikes of luminous purple flowers meld with the encircling grasses. Pile up compost around ‘Lollipop’, before planting a different grass in each corner, filling in the gaps with soil and firming in.