Nigel Colborn - Plant Solutions

Soil preference:Any free-draining

Aspect:Sun or shade

Season of interest:Spring

Height and spread:Up to 25cm × 15cm (10in × 6in)

Companion plants:Effective when bedded with winter pansies or polyanthus, but also superb when massed on their own. Fewer colours works better than a mix.

Viola

Winter Pansies Biennials or short-lived perennials

Low, mound-forming plants with diamond-shaped, slightly lobed leaves. The flowers, large in proportion to the plants, are flattened, disc-shaped, sweetly fragrant and almost perpetually in flower. Colours run through blue, orange, maroon, purple, yellow, pink and white. ‘Universal’ and ‘Ultima’ series are among the most popular winter flowering varieties. Deadhead to extend flowering.

Soil preference:Any well-drained, not too dry

Aspect:Part shade

Season of interest:Mainly winter but also year round

Height and spread:Approx 15cm × 20cm (6in × 8in)

Companion plants:Superb for long-lasting bedding, as well as for gap filling or providing winter interest in containers. Pretty with small bulbs such as Muscari, or with such spring plants as wallflowers or Aubrieta.

Primula vulgaris

Hybrid Primroses Perennial

Rosette-forming with broad, deeply veined, oval leaves and from winter through spring, a succession of five-petalled flowers. The wild species has pale yellow or flush mauve blooms but garden hybrids vary in flower size and colour. Red, blue, yellow, orange, pink and white hues are common. Sweetly fragrant. Should be divided and replanted regularly.

Soil preference:Medium to heavy, moisture retentive

Aspect:Shade or part shade

Season of interest:Spring

Height and spread:To 15cm × 20cm (6in × 8in)

Companion plants:Attractive bedded on their own, or with such spring bulbs as Muscari, Tulipa or smaller Narcissus such as N . ‘Hawera’ for companions. Also excellent as container plants.

Primula elatior hybrids

Polyanthus short-lived perennials

Leaves as primroses but the primula flowers appear in loose umbels of several blooms atop stems which may extend to 30cm. Developed from the wild oxlip, whose flowers are butter yellow, but cultivars come in all shades making them useful for colour scheming. Deadhead and remove yellowing leaves regularly. Divide annually and watch for vine weevil.

Soil preference:Moisture retentive

Aspect:Shade or partial shade, excellent under deciduous trees

Season of interest:Spring

Height and spread:Up to 30cm × 20cm (1ft × 8in)

Companion plants:Excellent for partially shaded bedding schemes but perfectly happy in full sun when they are bedded out in autumn and lifted in late spring after flowering.

Doronicum ‘Leopard’s Bane’

Perennial

Bright green, heart-shaped, slightly toothed leaves which form a basal clump as well as furnishing the flower stems. These lengthen in mid-spring, and bear big, golden daisy flowers which last into early summer. The foliage tends to burn away in hot weather.

Soil preference:Moist but free-draining

Aspect:Part-shade or shade. Excellent under deciduous trees

Season of interest:Spring

Height and spread:30cm × 60cm (1ft × 2ft)

Companion plants:Beautiful planted with contrasting tulips such as the scarlet ‘Apeldoorn’ or deep purple ‘Negrita’. Also interesting when teamed with aquilegias, which will extend the flowering season further into summer.

Bedding: summer flowering, full sun

Petunia

Petunias Perennial (frost tender)

The most widely grown bedding plant, worldwide. A mat-forming herbaceous plant with oval leaves and a constant succession of vivid, saucer-shaped, fragrant flowers. Flowers can be ruined by damp weather, but blooming is copious. Wide colour range available, some with stripes, edging or darker veins. Series include ‘Mirage’, ‘Wave’, ‘Celebrity’ and trailing ‘Surfinia’.

Soil preference:Any, not wet

Aspect:Full sun

Season of interest:Summer

Height and spread:Various, to 30cm × 60cm (1ft × 2ft)

Companion plants:Traditionally bedded on their own or with contrasting colours of bedding salvias or tagetes, petunias are also useful for gap filling in mixed planting schemes and for containers.

Tagetes patula, T. tenuifolia

French/African/Afro-French Marigold, Tagetes Annual

Annuals with divided, sometimes filigree foliage and a succession of flowers in hot hues from yellow, through gold to orange, red or pale cream. African Marigolds such as ‘Antigua Gold’ grow tallest; French Marigolds such as ‘Little Hero’ (orange) or ‘Safari’ series are mid-height; and Tagetes such as ‘Starfire’ form sprays of yellow or orange flowers.

Soil preference:Free-draining, fertile

Aspect:Sun

Season of interest:Summer

Height and spread:Variable up to 60cm × 45cm (up to 2ft × 1ft 6in)

Companion plants:These hot colours are difficult to team in more naturalistic bedding schemes but their power and distinctive aroma make them great value for bulking up summer colour. Tagetes are superb with blue daisies such as Felicia amelloides .

Pelargonium hybrids

Geraniums Tender perennials

A huge group of highly popular perennials, originating almost exclusively from Africa but hybridized and grown all over the world. Sizes vary from miniature hybrids and dwarf species to the largest kinds such as P. papilionaceum which can exceed 2m (6ft) in height and width. The single or double blooms occur in sprays or small clusters. Colours include most shades excluding blue and yellow. Zonal types have darker or lighter banding on leaves.

Soil preference:Any free-draining

Aspect:Full sun

Season of interest:Summer

Height and spread:Variable

Companion plants:Traditionally bedded on their own with contrasting ‘dot plants’. Red zonals look good with pale blue Plumbago or purple Cordyline; pink or violet can be set off with standard fuchsias or Abutilon.

Verbena hybrid cultivars

Tender perennials

Plants have lobed leaves and flattened flower umbels which attract butterflies. Those with a spreading habit include the vigorous ‘Homestead Purple’ which may overwinter, the old cultivar ‘Sissinghurst’ with abundant pink blooms and the popular ‘Tapien’ and ‘Temari’ series which offer a wide colour range. ‘Quartz’ is an excellent upright bedder from seed.