Pop some colour into your garden
Autumn is the perfect time to pop some pretty colour into your garden. Flowers like polyanthus, primula and viola can easily revitalise a weary garden, and thrive in the cooler months. And planting them now, before the temperature drops, gives them time to really get established, bringing you a prolonged blooming season.
Polyanthus, primula and viola are easy to grow and flourish in garden beds, as borders, or in pots. Polyanthus and voila are petite blooms (about 10-15cm high), while primula has a bit more height (30cm) — ideal for planting in behind smaller plants, for a fuller garden effect.
At Awapuni Nurseries, our primula comes in several shades of pink, red, white and mixed.
It’s a dainty flower, and when picked makes a cute winter posy arrangement for your kitchen. Primula also copes well growing in the shade.
If you’re not into the primula pinks, violas have a bolder look and come in range of blues, yellows and oranges. To really make these colours pop, when planting try thinking about your complementary colours — if you’ve got a terracotta orange pot, try planting blue blooms.
Alternatively, if your pot (or house colour) is blue, try the citrus or orange violas, to really make them stand out. Purple and yellow flowers will also complement each other, and really stand out in a pot together.
Polyanthus has a smaller bloom (framed by its leaves) appearance. Awapuni Nurseries stocks blue, red, pink, white and yellow polyanthus — so you’re bound to find something you like.
They look pretty in a pot on a table, and you’ll often see polyanthus in perfectly planted borders at public gardens.
You can order all these flowers online as seedlings from Awapuni Nurseries and have them delivered direct to your door. The eco-friendly bundles arrive wrapped in newspaper, and the labels are printed with vegetable ink, onto compostable cardboard.
When getting ready to plant your seedlings, choose a spot that receives some sun, and has good drainage. If your garden is looking a bit tired after summer, turn over the soil, and dig through some organic compost or fertiliser. Once this is done, dig holes for your flowers, 10-20cm apart. You want the holes to be large enough so the roots of the seedlings don’t get squashed. Place the seedlings in, and press soil firmly down around it.
Your plants will benefit from a good initial watering, and adding a layer of mulch around them. This will help retain moisture, soften the frost, and repel the weeds.
If you’ve flower seedlings left over, an old favourite of mine is to pack them into a low hanging basket. Pop your primula, polyanthus or violas in, and add some lobelia to really soften the sides. And, as we leave summer behind, I also like that baskets aren’t so labour intensive with minimal watering required.
In six to eight weeks, you’ll start to see colour popping through, all set for your coming cooler months. And remember — as with most flowers — to pick the off the deadheads to encourage more to bloom.