Cracking good containers

Growing your houseplants in something as beautiful as they are is the perfect finishing touch to your display and shows them off at their very best.

Containers are often an afterthought but they can make or break a good display, and you'll find pots to set off colourful foliage or emphasise an architectural shape in our garden centre in Surrey.

Themed or matching containers right through the house give a sense of continuity. Warm textured terracotta gives a rustic look, while coloured ceramic tones in easily with your home decor. Metallic finishes lend modernist style while bamboo or wooden containers are suitably jungly for ferns, palms and bananas. If it's shabby-chic you like, paint wooden containers or salvage items from bric-a-brac stores.

The shape of your container should also complement the plant growing in it. Low growing, trailing plants like ivy look lovely cascading over a tall container; fountain-shaped plants are complemented by vase-shaped pots. For real wow factor pick out the colours of a plant's leaves or flowers in the colours of the container or choose complementary colours: white, for example, sets off darker greens and purples beautifully.

Please ask the staff in our Surrey garden centre for more information and advice about choosing the right containers for your plants.