Plans to create a celebratory display
Q I wonder if you are able to advise me what type of plants I could use to form a figure 40 in a flower bed for summer decoration at my bowling club?
Brian Williams (via email)
A I am delighted that you wish to create the figure ‘40’ in small plants – carpet bedding – to commemorate a special occasion. I think that if you choose well, it will look spectacular.
You could consider the following carpeting plants:
Alternanthera ficoidea ‘Amoena’: Purple leaves changing to orange.
Antennaria dioica: Small silvery leaves, good for edging.
Echeveria glauca: a fleshy rosette-leaved succulent. Not frost hardy.
Hernaria glabra: Minute leaves; perfect for filling in between other plants.
Sagina pilifera aurea: Forms a dense carpet of tiny yellow leaves.
If you would prefer a permanent display of hardy flowering plants, opt for the following:
Armeria caespitosa: Pink flowers.
Hebe ‘Carl Teschner’: White-throated mauve flowers.
Iberis ‘Little Gem’: Bright white blooms.
Primula marginata: Mauve-blue flowers.
Sedum spurium: White, pink or red blooms.
While the above perennials are colourful, they are more difficult to train neatly than those on the first list, whose foliage can easily be clipped into shape.
I suggest that you contact Saltash, Cornwall-based Kernock Plants:
01579 350 56,
who specialise in carpet bedding.
