Making a bed interesting all year
Q I have renovated a bed at the front of the house that gets the sun throughout the morning. I want to add some plants to add a pop of colour at different stages of the year, some low level and some with some height, but definitely nothing that would grow too tall. What would you suggest?
Ricky Crymble (via email)
A I like your idea of creating a border, ideally of shrubs as most border perennials die back in autumn, for colour throughout the year. Try the following:
■ Spring
Daphne odora ‘Aureomarginata’: Scented reddish-purple flowers.
Ribes sanguinium White Icicle: Flowering currant with white blooms.
Syringa meyeri ‘Palibin’: Dwarf lilac with lavender-pink blossom.
■ Summer
Philadelphus ‘Manteau d’Hermine’: Dwarf mock orange; scented white flowers.
Potentilla ‘Red Ace’: Scarlet blooms.
Fuchsia ‘Madame Cornélissen’: Scarlet and white blooms.
■ Autumn
Convolvulus cneorum: Flared, creamy-white trumpets.
Cistus ‘Sunset’: Vivid cerise blooms.
Caryopteris ‘Kew Blue’: Blue flowers.
■ Winter
Sarcococca confusa: Scented white flowers.
Mahonia x media ‘Charity’: Tapering bright-yellow cones.
Fragrant purple-red
