Plant Solutions

Bedding: summer flowering, full sun (#ulink_c77b7445-8bd2-5132-a682-ee669b64038e)

Bedding: summer flowering, dappled shade (#ulink_2dc77b47-bfbb-5d85-af52-b120b33d900a)

Bedding for attracting wildlife (#ulink_2412759b-8395-5391-b50b-59cefeed7801)

Bedding: spring flowering, full and dappled shade (#ulink_9e7fb85b-4169-500f-a075-079aaac0f015)

Bellis perennis

Double Daisy, Lawn Daisy Perennial

Rounded or spoon-shaped leaves create mats of foliage above which blooms are held on thin stems. The wild species has a golden flower centre, surrounded by white sterile florets whose edges are flushed pink. Garden varieties include the double ‘Pomponette’ series, pale pink ‘Dresden China’ and the reddish ‘Rob Roy’.

Soil preference: Any

Aspect: Sun or partial shade

Season of interest: Spring

Height and spread: Up to 15cm × 20cm (6in × 8in)

Companion plants: Beautiful when bedded with forget-me-nots and with such bulbs as hyacinths or tulips.

Hyacinthus orientalis

Hyacinth Bulb

Fleshy, dark green leaves emerge in early spring. Later, chunky flower buds appear and extend to form thick flower spikes in shades of pink, blue, purple, white, pale yellow and orange. Intensely fragrant. ‘L’innocence’ is a fine bedding white, ‘Delft Blue’ is mid-blue, ‘Queen of the Blues’ darker and ‘Anna Marie’ pale pink.

Soil preference: Any free-draining

Aspect: Sun or shade

Season of interest: Spring

Height and spread: Up to 25cm × 15cm (10in × 6in)

Companion plants: Effective when bedded with winter pansies or polyanthus, but also superb when massed on their own. Fewer colours works better than a mix.

Viola

Winter Pansies Biennials or short-lived perennials

Low, mound-forming plants with diamond-shaped, slightly lobed leaves. The flowers, large in proportion to the plants, are flattened, disc-shaped, sweetly fragrant and almost perpetually in flower. Colours run through blue, orange, maroon, purple, yellow, pink and white. ‘Universal’ and ‘Ultima’ series are among the most popular winter flowering varieties. Deadhead to extend flowering.

Soil preference: Any well-drained, not too dry

Aspect: Part shade

Season of interest: Mainly winter but also year round

Height and spread: Approx 15cm × 20cm (6in × 8in)

Companion plants: Superb for long-lasting bedding, as well as for gap filling or providing winter interest in containers. Pretty with small bulbs such as Muscari, or with such spring plants as wallflowers or Aubrieta.

Primula vulgaris

Hybrid Primroses Perennial

Rosette-forming with broad, deeply veined, oval leaves and from winter through spring, a succession of five-petalled flowers. The wild species has pale yellow or flush mauve blooms but garden hybrids vary in flower size and colour. Red, blue, yellow, orange, pink and white hues are common. Sweetly fragrant. Should be divided and replanted regularly.

Soil preference: Medium to heavy, moisture retentive

Aspect: Shade or part shade

Season of interest: Spring

Height and spread: To 15cm × 20cm (6in × 8in)

Companion plants: Attractive bedded on their own, or with such spring bulbs as Muscari, Tulipa or smaller Narcissus such as N. ‘Hawera’ for companions. Also excellent as container plants.

Primula elatior hybrids

Polyanthus short-lived perennials

Leaves as primroses but the primula flowers appear in loose umbels of several blooms atop stems which may extend to 30cm. Developed from the wild oxlip, whose flowers are butter yellow, but cultivars come in all shades making them useful for colour scheming. Deadhead and remove yellowing leaves regularly. Divide annually and watch for vine weevil.

Soil preference: Moisture retentive

Aspect: Shade or partial shade, excellent under deciduous trees

Season of interest: Spring

Height and spread: Up to 30cm × 20cm (1ft × 8in)

Companion plants: Excellent for partially shaded bedding schemes but perfectly happy in full sun when they are bedded out in autumn and lifted in late spring after flowering.

Doronicum ‘Leopard’s Bane’

Perennial

Bright green, heart-shaped, slightly toothed leaves which form a basal clump as well as furnishing the flower stems. These lengthen in mid-spring, and bear big, golden daisy flowers which last into early summer. The foliage tends to burn away in hot weather.

Soil preference: Moist but free-draining

Aspect: Part-shade or shade. Excellent under deciduous trees

Season of interest: Spring