GINA PARKINSON suggests some ideal container plants.

THE pot we have by the front door has been in its full spring splendour for the past few weeks. The white winter flowering heather and pink cyclamen had faded but were soon replaced by violas, primulas and grape hyacinth.

Spaces are filled with variegated ivy and the marbled leaves of the cyclamen while the new shoots of Photinia x fraseri 'Red Robin' add height and a splash of intense red.

This container is treated like a small bed in the garden with plants being left to mature rather than replaced every spring.

Grape hyacinths have resided there for several years and seem to be increasing with more flowers appearing each year and the young Photinia x fraseri 'Red Robin' will stay there for a couple of more seasons, by which time it will be big enough to be planted in the garden.

Once the primulas and violas go over, a few annuals will be stuffed in wherever they can fit to give colour over the summer. Small hardy geraniums, lobelia and mimulus all do well in this shady spot and will flower for months.

Lobelia and mimulus particularly like damp soil which isn't a problem here as we always take out the milk bottles filled with water for this pot and the hanging basket above, before leaving them out for the milkman.

Grape hyacinths or Muscari are useful spring-flowering bulbs for containers or for naturalising under shrubs and among other spring bulbs.

The common name refers to the flowers, which look like clusters of tiny grapes at the top of each stem.

They are supposed to prefer full sun but I have successfully grown them in light shade where they can be relied on to flower each year.

The leaves appear first usually in February or March, sometimes even earlier, followed by the blooms later. Crowded clumps can be divided in summer or autumn with the bulbs being replanted straight away, the only problem being that by that time of year it can be hard to remember where they are. Put a marker in the spot in spring as a reminder when the job needs to be done.

There are several species of Muscari with M. armeniacum being a popular choice. Growing up to 22.5cm tall, white-edged blue flowers are carried from March to May with bulbs being planted the previous September and October.

Varieties include 'Blue Spike' which is shorter with double flowers, 'Valerie Finnis' and greenish blue 'Fantasy Creation'.

A new addition to our spring garden is Muscari latifolium which grows about 15cm high and has dark-green leaves with a brownish red base. The flowers are blackish violet with the upper ones smaller and paler.

For more unusual-shaped flowers, try the taller Muscari comosum which grows around 30cm tall.

The flowers are straw coloured at the base of the spike, deepening to dark purple topped with tassles of paler petals; the variety 'Plumosum' (sometimes 'Monstrosum') produces heads of feathery mauve flowers.

M. azureum 'Album', M. botryoides 'Album' and M. weiseii 'White Beauty' all have white flowers if something other than blue is preferred. M. macrocarpum is very different with brown-rimmed yellow flowers while the blooms of M. muscarimi are purple to start with and slowly fade to pale green then cream as they age.

Updated: 08:43 Saturday, April 10, 2004