Coralie Thomas
Raised in New York, Coralie worked at Wave Hill Garden in the Bronx before joining the team at Great Dixter House & Gardens in 2016, first as a scholar and now as assistant head gardener
Pelargonium ‘Frank Headley’ is one of my desert-island plants. It’s a compact zonal pelargonium with clean green-and-white variegated foliage, and it produces peach-pink flowers all summer long. It’s visited by elephant hawk moths here in summer.
Origanum ‘Rosenkuppel’ is reliable, tough and develops bright pink flowers all through summer. Although it’s hardy, its aromatic foliage dies back in winter. It holds an RHS Award of Garden Merit and is a good food source for bees and butterflies.
Cylindropuntia imbricata is hardy and surprisingly easy to grow. Being a cactus, it has a different structure and texture to most other pot plants, so it’s distinctive. Its flowers are striking magenta.
Carex muskingumensis has the thin green foliage of a sedge and provides an attractive backdrop in a pot display. It occurs naturally in wet locations, so it will need a damp container. It can grow up to around 70cm, so keep it to the rear or sides of a container.
The hot pink flowers of bloom all summer. It’s hardy, needs full sun
