Your perfect 10 for a riot of colour all summer long
ELEVATE your patio pots, hanging baskets and seasonal displays by growing bedding plants. From a nemesia with larger flowers than normal to a trailing petunia with unusually coloured blooms, here are some brand new varieties for 2021 to look out for…
Begonia ‘Non-Stop Fire’
Flowering from late spring until early autumn, this is the latest colour in the world-famous Non-Stop series of tuberous begonias. Upright plants with a gently cascading habit bear fully double, orange flowers with darker picotee markings on the edges of their petals.
Begonia ‘Mega Watt Rose Bronze Leaf’
Create an electrifying spectacle from June until October with this upright begonia with large, glossy bronze-green leaves that make the perfect backdrop for its deep pink blooms.
Begonia ‘Solenia Apricot’
A new colour in t he much- admired Solenia series, apricot blooms are displayed against a foil of heartshaped, dark green leaves from June until September. Forming neat, bushy mounds, it is happy in sun or semi-shade.
Nemesia ‘ Lady Lisa’
Ideal for filling gaps in mixed containers, this forms a 12 in mound that is covered with flowers that are larger than most nemesias. Churned out constantly from summer until well into autumn, the pink and purple blooms are lightly scented.
Calibrachoa ‘Blueberry Punch’
A new addition to the popular Can Can series, this semi- trailing, bushy sun- lover produces hundreds of minipetunia flowers from June until the first frosts of autumn. The trumpetshaped white flowers are adorned with purple throats.
Osteospermum ‘Serenity Sunshine Beauty’
Perfect in contain
BRIGHT SPOTS:
Osteospermum Serenity Sunshine Beauty, top, Begonia Mega Watt Rose Bronze Leaf, below, and Nemesia Lady Lisa, right ers on a sunny patio, this new cape daisy makes a 10 in dome and has highly attractive orange flowers that fade to yellow towards a central black eye.
Pelargonium ‘Pink Splash’
Part of the Pretty Little series of interspecific pelargoniums (hybrids combining the best features of ivy-leaved and zonal types), this newbie to the range forms a bushy, 14in- tall dome smothered with heads of two-tone, pink and dark pink flowers.
Salvia ‘Roman Red’
Add some vertical interest to summer displays with this cracking bedding salvia that launches a succession of 3ft-tall, near-black stems bearing deep red flowers. Apart from turning heads, the blooms are attractive to bees and other pollinating insects.
Petunia ‘Tumbelina DarceyRosa’
Since bursting on to the scene in the 1990s, tumbelina petunias have been sought after for their bushy growth and 14inlong trailing stems clothed with sweetly scented flowers. This newcomer to the range boasts double, purple flowers with striking green edges.
Verbena ‘Showboat Crimson Velvet’
Great in pots or forming a weed-suppressing mat at the front of a bed, this verbena grows to 10 in and has broad leaves and gorgeous red flowers that appear from May until October.