A pot's a good idea, this is not a hardy plant, specially where you are in the UK, so full winter protection is a must. Does not like hot, full sun either, but is drought tolerant. Plant in John Innes No. 2 or 3, or No. 3 mixed with multi purpose compost to make it a lighter mix and not so heavy to move.

Sorry, Bamboo, but it is not very drought tolerant--that is, it will survive drought, but only by dropping all of its leaves and flowers! Especially true in a pot, where it also needs regular doses of a complete plant food. Full sun also should be fine, since that is where it grows best here in the desert.

Thankyou very much both of you, I have put it in a heavy, ceramic pot with my own home made compost mixed with some miracle -gro organic root food. I shook the soil in a big seive so it got rid of all the bits and was just lovely soft soil. I hope that works alright!! Serve me right if not! Also I suppose I will have to bring it into the porch when winter comes. Very grateful, again, thanks.

Mine, in Margate about 3/4 mile from the sea, has been in the ground in full sun for over 6 years now. It has coped with drought, the last vicious winter and this year's miserable summer to date. There is always some die-back, as stated elsewhere, but this is always pruned off. I have about a foot of thin clayey on chalk and it does not get fertilised. This summer it has produced over 100 flower heads, although a fair number seem to mysteriously disappear - not eaten, and probably due to the strong winds we get here but I can find no trace of anything on the ground. I expect the first flowers in about 2-3 weeks. It is about 8-9' tall, about 12' wide with a trunk about 3" diameter at the base. I hope this is of help to others.

Thank you very much Tutor! It's coming along nicely and has plenty of leaves coming out even tho I've only had it 2 weeks, still twig like though.. I'll see how it goes and hopefully have a nice photo to upload by this time next year..thanks again.

Tutor, yours is coping because of your proximity to the sea, and the fact you're in the south - anywhere within 3 miles of the sea is always milder in winter than inland, simply because the sea is warmer than land at that time of year.

And I wouldn't expect it to need food in the ground, if there is a decent amount of vegetation around it. We only feed them in the ground here, because our soil is so poor, and we have to water them so often.