Making colour last into the year
Creating a border that will look good from spring through to autumn takes careful planning. Here’s Lynne’s advice…
When planning a border, opt for about one third of early blooming plants, and two thirds that are scheduled to bloom in later summer. Early flowerers such as bulbs, aquilegias, lupins, poppies and delphiniums perform for around three weeks, whereas plants flowering after midsummer – helianthus, helenium, salvias and dahlias – tend to blossom for much longer, providing better value
Choose roses that repeat flower, producing blooms from summer until first frosts
Don’t forget about foliage. The greens in a border are very important – choose a shade and leaf shape that will complement the flowers that are growing there
In late June and early July, cut back both leaves and blooms of early flowering perennials such as hardy geraniums, violas, dianthus, catmint and alchemilla.
This way, you catch the growing period, and they’ll either re-flower or, at the very least, produce fresh foliage
For long-lasting hits of spot colour, grow vibrant cosmos and cleomes as annuals among the planting
Plant up large plastic pots with inexpensive, late-flowering annuals such as zinnias or gaillardias, to drop into borders wherever gaps appear
Intersperse perennials with ornamental grasses to add body and seedheads into winter
Dead-head regularly to encourage continuous flowering