Plant Solutions

Companion plants: Excellent as link plants between spring and summer bedding, since they can be planted out in very early spring before the frost risk has passed. Try them after tulips or polyanthus.

Bedding: summer flowering, dappled shade (#ulink_a133dbf9-9083-5db5-a40b-6c20c508eb54)

Salvia splendens

Scarlet Sage, Bedding Salvia Tender perennial

Shrubby perennial with angular stems and toothed, nettlelike leaves. The flowers are sheathed in colourful bracts and, in the wild species, are vivid red. Garden forms, which come in red, pink or purplish hues, include ‘Scarlet King’, ‘Empire Purple and ‘Vista Salmon’. The ‘Sizzler’ series are smaller, more compact plants in a similar colour range.

Soil preference: Rich, not too dry, but well-drained

Aspect: Part-shade or sun

Season of interest: Summer, early autumn

Height and spread: Up to 1.2m (4ft), but usually grown shorter

Companion plants: A good choice for part-shaded bedding schemes or for high rainfall areas. The strong colours work well with sombre heliotropes or with the rich foliage patterns of Plectranthus or with Solenostemon (Coleus).

Impatiens walleriana hybrids

Busy Lizzie, Balsam Tender perennial

Shrubby perennials with thick but brittle stems and smooth, glossy, slightly toothed leaves. The flowers are flattened, asymmetrical and come in a broad range of hues from red, through mauve, pink or salmon to white. F1 hybrid seed strains offer single colours. Some types are picotee edged, striped or have ‘eyed’ flowers, for example ‘Dazzler Merlot’.

Soil preference: Fertile, not too dry

Aspect: Part shade or sun but not too hot

Season of interest: Summer

Height and spread: 20–30cm × 20–50cm (8–12in × 8in—1ft 10in)

Companion plants: Best when encouraged to form dense mats of colour by planting in groups, but softened by foliage plants such as Senecio ‘Silver Dust’ or with taller dot plants such as Eucalyptus gunnii or Plumbago.

Limnanthes douglasii

Poached Egg Plant Hardy annual

Vivid emerald green, feathery leaves create a dense ground cover persisting through winter, where seed has germinated in autumn. In late spring, the bright foliage is all but blotted out by even brighter, disc-shaped or shallow cupped flowers, each about 3cm (1in) across, with brilliant yellow centres and white petal margins. An excellent plant for attracting wildlife, especially beneficial hoverflies. Self-sows copiously.

Soil preference: Any, not too dry

Aspect: Sun or part shade

Season of interest: Spring, summer

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

Companion plants: Perfect for creating green or coloured ground cover between shrubs, particularly along border edges. Best when allowed to spread naturally, by self-sowing.

Mimulus

Monkey Flower, Musk Short-lived perennials and half hardy annuals

Mat forming perennials with slightly toothed leaves and a summer-long run of trumpet-shaped flowers in bright colours, often with stippling at the throat. Cultivars include ‘Highland Park’ (tomato red), ‘Puck’ (yellow) and ‘Wisley Red’ (scarlet). Seed series offer speckled and dramatically blotched blooms in shades of pink and cream though orange, red, maroon and yellow. ‘Monkey Magic’ is white with red markings.

Soil preference: Moist, but well-drained and fertile

Aspect: Sun or shade

Season of interest: Summer

Height and spread: From dwarf to 30cm × 45cm (1ft × 1ft 6in)

Companion plants: Ideal plants for a moist, part-shaded bedding scheme where they can accompany some of the taller primulas, such as Primula viallii. Seed series are useful for shaded containers with dark blue lobelia.

Lobelia erinus

Bedding Lobelia Tender perennial, invariably grown as annuals

Compact or trailing herbs with thin stems, sometimes bronze-hued foliage and a constant succession of small flowers, with broad lower petals and a contrasting white eye. Colours include dark, mid- or pale blue, mauve, purple and white. Popular compact varieties include non-trailing ‘Palace Series’ and ‘Mrs Clibran’. Trailing kinds include the ‘Cascade Series’ and light blue ‘Periwinkle Blue’.

Soil preference: Moisture-retentive

Aspect: Sun or part shade

Season of interest: Summer

Height and spread: Variable to 20cm (8in), but trailing kinds have longer stems

Companion plants: The classic plant for edging borders, or for trailing from baskets. The blue is valuable for cooling colour schemes or for making strong contrasts with, for example, golden-flowered Bidens ferulifolia; looks attractive almost anywhere.

Tanacetum parthenium

Feverfew Perennial

Bright green or gold, lobed leaves which are acridly aromatic when bruised. The yellow-centred, white flowers begin to emerge in late spring and are produced all summer. Cultivars include ‘Snowball’ (button blooms) and ‘Santana’. Will flower naturally but also responds well to frequent trimming. A prolific self-seeder, sometimes becoming a nuisance, but also a handy gap filler. The leaves are reputed to cure headaches.

Soil preference: Any

Aspect: Sun, partial shade or shade

Season of interest: Spring, summer, autumn

Height and spread: Variable to 45cm (1ft 6in), usually smaller

Companion plants: Useful as part of a carpet bedding scheme, or when the gold-leaf form ‘Aureum’ is planted among such plants as Impatiens or petunias, to tone down the intensity of the flowers.