To help you get some kind of return in terms of colourful blooms in the open ground or in baskets,window boxes and containers this summer, choose from my top ten and delight in their performance up to mid October and later.
1) Busy Lizzies
Top spot goes to Impatiens (Busy Lizzies) especially the newer hybrids in shades of pink and lilac. They are ideal for damp, shady places and are a superb choice for Irish gardens and typical Irish summers!
2) Petunias
Petunias fill my second spot, especially the surfinia strains. For general bedding choose the multiflora strains for while their blooms may be smaller than those of the Surfinias, they’re borne in large numbers and stand up to wet weather much better.
3) Lobelia
Whether you use the trailing or bunching forms, sheets of colour will be yours, but do remember that nowadays lobelia comes in many shades and not just the old and reliable blues. ‘Cambridge Blue rather than to the darker ‘Crystal Palace’ will provide you with a wonderful sky blue effect all summer
4) Begonia
Begonia semperfl orens come next, for Begonia these fibrous-rooted reliables perform semperflorens excellently in poor summers. There are chocolate brown varieties such as ‘Cocktail’ with its shiny leaves and white blooms, as well as the more commonly used green-leaved, pink or red-flowered forms.
5) Cirrus
Set off any bedding scheme to perfection Senecio cineraria and provide texture and colour by including a selection of foliage plants. Senecio cineraria has masses of silver coated leaves. I prefer to use the form sold as ‘Cirrus’ for it has broad leaves and a blue/silver colouring, but any variety of S. cineraria will give a decent account of itself.
6) French Marigolds
French marigolds will succeed where most other summer bedding plants fail, so for a bright splash of colour over a very long period, these are the ones to choose. There are quite a number of yellow, orange, and brown coloured forms to choose from. These plants are very easy to bring to perfection.
7) Nemesia
Nemesia is another favourite with its vast range of colours on blooms which can be 2cm across. These plants are more suited to our wet weather and can suffer in hot, dry conditions. For this reason, keep the plants well watered in dry spells and once the main flush of blooms has finished, give the plants a topping with the garden shears to induce a further blooming later on.
8) Bedding Dahlias
For easy maintenance, a reliable performance and a dash of the dramatic, bedding dahlias come next, despite what many say, is their tendency to attract earwigs! If you like a particular colour, dig up the underground tuber come the Autumn, clean off any adhering soil and store in a cool, dry and dark place.
9) Godetia
A much loved and easy-to-grow summer plant is godetia especially the ‘Dwarf Mixed’ strain which grows to just under a foot in height. These are superb for the front of a border giving a riot of colour in stripes, blends and picotees which continue from July to the end of September. Try these from seed in April or as shop-bought plants in late May.
10) Cosmos
Last but not least comes a ‘seethrough’ plant called cosmos. This tall, slender plant produces large blooms and delicate ferny foliage which you can easily see through. It thrives on poor, light soils giving colour, shape and form from the end of June to the first frosts. They are available as small plants from the end of May.
Bord Bia It’s Garden Time
With thanks to Bord Bia for this article. For more information on Bord Bia and for further gardening tips and advice, visit http://www.bordbia.ie/consumer/gardening/itsgardentime/pages/gardentips.aspx
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