Garden centres and florists have ample stock of summer-flowering annuals right now, often under the name ‘bedding plants’. How about deep blue lobelia, cheerful begonia, busy lizzies in bright colours and lavishly flowering bacopa - all ready-grown to bring immediate colour to your garden. All you have to do is find a spot for them and make sure they get enough water; nature does the rest.
Summer-flowering annuals are always partying
The summer-flowering annuals you plant now will give you pleasure throughout spring, the whole of summer and often into part of autumn. Petunia and mini-petunia grow and flower endlessly, as does verbena, and geranium . The secret of that lavish and sustained flowering lies in the nature of these plants. An annual needs to germinate, grow, create buds, flower and produce seed to spawn the next generation in a limited space of time. This explains their unbounded power and lavish flowering. One nice thing is that there are also very ‘loud’ types, often in bold bright colours that really shake things up - just what you’d expect of high-spirited summer guests.
Select your colour for summer now
The rich range of colours offered by summer-flowering annuals make it possible to create attractive combinations. If you want to make life particularly easy for yourself, choose the colours now that will set the tone for the summer palette in your garden. It could be charming bright red geraniums with blue lobelias, a warm mix of pink fuchsias, busy lilies and begonias, or the sunny yellow and orange of African marigolds and violas. If you like a peaceful garden, how about blue lobelias with white bacopa, which go well with the grey of Eucalyptus and later the purple of lavender. Choosing a colour scheme now makes it easier to maintain the coherence in your garden over the coming months when you choose other summer bloomers. And the less time you spend on it, the more time you have to sit back and enjoy it.
