Make your bed
Choose the right plants to bring their unique stamp to your garden, writes David Overend.
Creating a low-maintenance bed or border to bring colour for several months of the year may seem a daunting task. In reality, it’s relatively simple – as long as you choose the right plants for the right places. There are, in fact, far too many team plants capable of doing the job; trying to cram them into a limited space is impossible. So be a bit choosy, perhaps a bit quirky, and feature just a few plants that can bring their own unique stamp to the garden.
Let’s start with common yarrow, Achillea, a plant that loves the sun and whose stunning flattened clusters of canary-yellow flowers catch the eye.
Give it a well-drained soil and it should romp away, blooming from June through until September and attracting bees and butterflies from miles around.
Achilleas such as the variety ‘Coronation Gold’ are a bit more resistant to flopping over than some of the family members but if in doubt, help it keep upright by staking.
Once those superb flat flowers have finished, resist the urge to hack the plant to the ground; instead, enjoy the fading seedheads until late winter and then prune. Lift and divide large clumps in late autumn or early spring.
The second contestant for a place in the sun is Acanthus spinosus, normally regarded as a plant of early summer but one that can last far longer.
The purple-hooded, white tubular flowers are unusual, as are the spines that clothe its stems; this is a plant that requires careful handling.
The plant, also knows as bear’s breeches, likes full sun and a fertile, well-drained soil. It can easily reach four feet in height and can be propagated in autumn (or spring) by lifting and dividing established clumps.
And to complete the trio of – Ajuga reptans, in this case perhaps ‘Black Scallop’, whose glossy, crinkled leaves are, not surprisingly, almost black. Short spikes of deep blue flowers appear in mid- to late spring.
This bugle is a fast grower and spreads to form living carpets up to two feet in width but just a few inches in height.
Plant it in sun or partial shade and it should thrive – just as long as the soil isn’t over-dry.
It’s easy to look after and also looks good in containers.