Free Poppies

Hi, I'm thinking of getting the free poppies in this months magazine and putting them in a pot.  Can anyone suggest a combination of plants to go in there with them? 

And should I put all 4 in one large pot?

Also, in the fruit trees in pots section, the magazine suggests putting hessian as a pot liner.  Seems a good idea - I assume worth doing for all pots?

Thanks!

My poppies never seem to last for long so I would be looking for something long flowering to go with them. I would suggest begonias, pelargoniums or dianthus. You would not be able to put all 4 in a pot and something else.

Ok, so maybe 1 or 2 in the pot.  Just that my pots have been sparse in the past so trying to not be so tight!

I have to admit that I would never consider poppies for containers, as you say containers can easily look sparse and that is why the more experienced gardeners go down the traditional route of bedding plants.

Maybe I'll not get them and wait then.  I've got only clay soil and part shade areas to plant in at the mo.  In a year or so, I'll have a sunny raised bed which'll be better for things like poppies.

It is a bit of a difficult dilemma, I also have clay soil and have tried to nurture perennials in pots but they do not give a good display in a container but grow so big that I cannot then transfer them into the ground. On the other hand ones I planted straight into the ground often do not survive.

 I have clay soil too and have a cottage style garden full of perennials. I too have lost a lot along the way, but by trial and error have found some that just romp away and are quite happy with their lot.... Japenese anenomes, foxgloves, euphorbias, delphiniums, aquiligias, forgetmenots, ladies mantle (alchemilla mollis), sedums, geraniums, cat mint, astrantias. So quite a few successful. I do try to throw on and dig in some home made compost and leaf mound every autumn which has improved the soil a bit. I have lots of pots too and dont find perennials very successful in them, although hostas are quite happy in them and they have more protection from slugs than in the ground. I grow lots of bulbs and tubers in my pots, spring bulbs, lillies, agapanthus, dahlias, also fushias.  I tend to grow the bulbs in large plastic pots that then get put in glazed blue pots on display when in flower, that way I can keep rotatating pots and keep a show going. Hope that is helpful. Good luck.    

Supernoodle wrote (see)

... I found some self seeded in my gravel drive from somewhere! Shame they were in the wrong place. ..

This is the key to growing plants. Every plant will grow happily, and seed itself, in the right situation.

Perhaps you should grow poppies on your drive.