Very good tutorial from a professional garden...
I have subscribed to access all the courses so have watched one on interior design and this one with Butter Wakefield who specialises in small garden design. She ...
Louise Brown
Apr 10, 2026
A whopper pot recipe with dahlias, amaranth, and cardiospermum
with SARAH RAVEN — Acclaimed English gardener, cook and writer. Host of the UK’s No.1 gardening podcast.
Lesson 20 of 25
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Sarah presents another whopper pot recipe using the thriller, pillar and spiller method to combine amaranth, dahlias and cardiospermum.
From the Lesson Workbook
A Whopper Pot Recipe with Dahlias, Amaranth, and Cardiospermum
By September, the whopper pots are still carrying the garden, providing show-stopping colour, form and structure. In this lesson, I'm going to show you a particularly eye-catching whopper pot using the soft and warm palette.
A Whopper Pot Recipe
Thriller: Dahlia 'Molly Raven'
Spiller: Amaranth 'Coral Fountain'
Pillar: Cardiospermum
The flowers of cardiospermum are quite insignificant when compared to the glamour of the dahlia and amaranth, but after flowering they go on to form lantern-shaped acid-green seed pods which cut through the richness of the flowers and provide an autumnal gatecrasher.
Cardiospermum translates as 'heart seed' and that's because inside the pods you will find jet-black seeds with a white heart shape on them.
This pot will still be looking good towards the end of October. Though it will start to get a bit tired-looking in November, it'll still be providing colour and interest so we usually won't take it down until just before Christmas.
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Very good tutorial from a professional garden designer
I have subscribed to access all the courses so have watched one on interior design and this one with Butter Wakefield who specialises in small garden design. She has a lovely personality and comes across as ...
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Apr 10, 2026
Time spent well
I love CreateAcademy. I came in for the gardening and floristry courses, but am also watching an interior design one at present. And the photography course is an absolute must, best I've ever done.
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What a great investment
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Your Instructor
Sarah Raven
Acclaimed English gardener, cook and writer. Host of the UK’s No.1 gardening podcast.
Sarah Raven is a renowned English gardener, cook and award-winning author. She is an inspirational and passionate teacher - combining her decades of experience with her scientific approach to growing (she is medically trained) - and has been running cooking, flower arranging and gardening courses at Perch Hill, her 90-acre farm in East Sussex, and around the UK for over 30 years. She has written for a host of major publications - including House & Garden, The Saturday Telegraph, Country Living, Gardens Illustrated, Gardeners’ World Magazine and The English Garden - and presented on TV shows including Gardeners' World and BBC’s Great British Garden Revival. Her gardening and cookery books have won numerous awards including ‘Best Specialist Gardening Book’ for The Cutting Garden and ‘Cookery Book of the Year’ for Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook. Sarah is married to the writer Adam Nicolson, Vita Sackville-West's grandson. She also has an online shop that is a brilliant destination for plants, bulbs, seeds, tools and all things garden.
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