Nigel Colborn - Plant Solutions

Soil preference:Any, not too dry

Aspect:Sun or part shade

Season of interest:Summer

Height and spread:25cm × 30cm (10in × 12in)

Companion plants:Best co-ordinated with attractive foliage plants, particularly with silvery or grey leaves. Trailing plants such as Sutera, Dichondra argentea ‘Silver Falls’ and the very silvery Lotus berthelotii would make fine companions.

Calibrachoa ‘Million Bells’

Tender perennial

Close relative of the petunia, producing masses of long, trailing stems, richly furnished with flattened, flared, trumpet flowers up to about 3cm (1in) across. One of the best trailing plants for hanging baskets or large containers. ‘Million Bells’ series has flowers in pink, mauve, dusky yellow, white and terracotta.

Soil preference:Any well-drained

Aspect:Sun

Season of interest:Summer

Height and spread:15cm (6in) high, trailing 1m (3ft 3in) stems

Companion plants:Teams will with such trailing foliage plants as Lotus berthelotii or Helichrysum petiolare ‘Variegatum’ but also excellent when grown alone.

Felicia amelloides

Blue Daisy, African Blue Daisy Tender perennial

Bushy or slowly trailing perennial with rounded, deep green, slightly pubescent leaves and masses of yellow-centred, bright blue daily flowers held on thin, erect stems. The form ‘Santa Anita’ is the toughest, sometimes surviving a touch of frost, and flowers throughout summer.

Soil preference:Any free-draining

Aspect:Sun

Season of interest:Summer, early autumn

Height and spread:40cm × 60cm (1ft 4in × 2ft)

Companion plants:Magnificent if contrasted with bright yellow or orange flowers. Tagetes, especially clear yellow varieties, blend sweetly as does Bidens ferulifolia .

Nemesia denticulata and allies

Tender perennial

Mound-forming perennial with thin, easily snapped stems, which are quick to regenerate, and generous, long-lasting sprays of sometimes fragrant flowers shaped like small, open snapdragons. Colours range from white to pastel lilac, purple and pink tones.

Soil preference:Any, not too dry

Aspect:Sun or part shade

Season of interest:Summer

Height and spread:30cm × 40cm (1ft × 1ft 4in)

Companion plants:Best grown on its own, especially in a large pot or hanging basket.

Bidens ferulifolia

Bidens, Beggarticks Tender perennial

Lax perennial, whose much branched stems trail elegantly among other vegetation. The deeply divided foliage makes a pretty foil for the big, golden, honey-scented blooms which are produced constantly through summer. A classic and drought-tolerant basket plant, but also fine in a border, where it can sprawl among other perennials.

Soil preference:Any

Aspect:Sun

Season of interest:Summer

Height and spread:Up to 45cm (1ft 6in) trailing

Companion plants:Lovely with silver foliage of trailing Helichrysum or trailing Plectranthus. Superb when making a startling contrast with the vigorous Verbena ‘Homestead Purple’.

Sutera (syn. Bacopa)

Tender annuals or perennials

South African plants with bushy but trailing or sprawling habit and slightly toothed triangular or rounded leaves. The flowers are tiny – forget-me-not sized – but are produced in profusion through much of summer. Pastel shaded cultivars include ‘Blue Showers’, ‘Lilac Showers’ and ‘Pink Domino’. White forms include ‘Snowstorm’, ‘Snowflake’ and Sutera cordata ‘Blizzard’.

Soil preference:Any

Aspect:Sun

Season of interest:Summer

Height and spread:10cm × 45cm (4in × 1ft 6in)

Companion plants:Suteras have become standard basket and window box plants and will mix with practically anything. They are ideal for softening edges and disguising pot sides, making excellent companions for erect varieties of pelargonium and fuchsias.

Other good bedding plants

Lathyrus odoratus Dwarf varieties

Sweet Pea Hardy annual

Most have the attributes of climbing sweet peas – fragrance, colourful blossoms, good cutting value – but dwarf plants need minimal support. Varieties include ‘Snoopea’, which lacks tendrils and has a prostrate but bushy habit, ‘Bijou Mixed’ and the dwarf ‘Cupid Mixed’. Colours run through pink, purples and white. Excellent for containers.

Soil preference:Any fertile, free-draining but moisture-retentive

Aspect:Sun

Season of interest:Summer

Height and spread:Variable to 30cm (1ft)

Companion plants:Effective in small bedding schemes alongside leafy plants such as Senecio cineraria or as part of a mixed container, with Nemesia or Torenia.

Heliotropium arborescens

Heliotrope, Cherry Pie Tender shrub, grown as bedding

A rounded shrub, in the forget-me-not family with handsome oval and deeply veined leaves that are often purple-tinged. Large heads of tiny, rich purple flowers which smell sweetly of vanilla. When used in bedding, heliotropes can be trained as standards or pruned and pinched back to sustain bushiness. Fine varieties include ‘Princess Marina’, whose flowers are deep purple-blue, ‘Chatsworth’, slightly paler purple and also very fragrant, and ‘White Lady’.

Soil preference:Any

Aspect:Sun

Season of interest:Summer

Height and spread:To 90cm × 60cm (3ft × 2ft)

Companion plants:The classic ‘dot’ plant of Victorian bedding, useful for giving height to beds of impatiens, petunias or to contrast strongly with French marigolds.

Nicotiana mutabilis ‘Marshmallow’

Tobacco Plant Tender perennial

This plant has large, floppy leaves which are sticky to the touch above which grows a mass of branched, slender stems bearing trumpet-shaped flowers which open white and gradually flush to a pale and then a deep cherry pink. Each flower has a dark eye and in the evening, exudes a delicious fragrance.

Soil preference:Any, fertile and free-draining

Aspect:Sun

Season of interest:Summer

Height and spread:1.2m × 75cm (4ft × 2ft 6in)