It all began many years ago with the brilliant Flower Carpet® rose. These hardy ground cover roses perform year after year, smothered in blooms for extended periods. They’re the epitome of easy-care gardening, whether planted in the ground or in containers.

Just as dry soils, challenging climates, pests and diseases, are all tests for a plants’ resilience, so is life in a pot. At Anthony Tesselaar, the standard is rigorous. To make the grade, a plant must not only be an outstanding innovation, but also easy to grow with minimal fuss. Each plant is trialled over several seasons before it becomes available to gardeners.

With time being a major factor for many, a plant that can be placed in the garden or a container and left largely to its own devices - with just the occasional tidy-up and watering during dry spells - is incredibly helpful. Take, for example, Daphne ‘Perfume Princess’®. Unlike the tricky, easy-to-kill varieties of the past, this lovely daphne flowers repeatedly along each stem, on a sturdy plant that fills the spring garden with fragrance for much longer than usual - and often spot-flowers through summer. In addition to the soft pink form, today’s Perfume Princess White offers a beautiful and hardy alternative to the older Daphne odora Alba.

A fantastic ‘hero’ plant for a large pot, the fabulously flamboyant Tropicanna® canna stand out from the crowd with their tropical good looks and easy-care nature. Perfect for vertical accent and drama they grow around 1.2m tall in a pot (taller in garden beds) and can be cut back any time to force new growth. Available in three stunning foliage colours, they benefit from occasional feeding and watering during dry spells.

Coprosmas are known for their resilience and superior drought tolerance. Coprosma Pacific Sunrise™ and Pacific Sunset™ take it a step further. Their bushy form and intense red foliage make them especially versatile in containers. Perfect for brightening a deck or paved area, they deliver year-round colour and interest with very little care.

For a hardy alternative to heritage roses, look out for the fragrant Showpiece™ shrub roses, with their gorgeous ruffled flowers and healthy green foliage. True to the Tesselaar high standards, they are reliable performers - even in pots.

Container growing can be tricky at the best of times,but success is easy when you start with the toughest most resilient, disease resistant plants. Water as needed and feed with slow release fertiliser to keep them at their very best.

For more low fuss garden performers visit tesselaar.com‍