Sarah Raven

If you are planting up pots you'll want to follow these tips to create the most beautiful pot displays in your garden this summer...

1. First, choose a limited range of colours, not a general razzmatazz of yellow, pink, purple, blue, red and orange. Narrow it down to one close family of colours, not perfectly matched, but in a harmonious range.

2. Once you've chosen a good range, pot them on into pretty terracotta pots - the more weather beaten the pot the better. Or, for polyanthus which likes a moist soil, plant them in any small salad or serving bowl filled with multi-purpose potting compost.

Most plants you come across need good drainage so you have to fill the bottom of a bowl like this with plenty of crocks to keep their roots free of standing water, but with polyanthus - closely related to the primrose - a degree of dampness at the roots is fine.