I’ve just completed the planting for a new, small bed. And I’ve done something a little bit different (well for me). I’ve used much hotter plant colours. Gone are the lilacs, purples, pinks and whites which reign supreme in a lot of my garden. In are the reds, oranges and yellows. So I thought I’d talk you through the hot border plants I’ve gone for.
Scene Setting – first the failure!
I must be honest, the new bed in question is actually an old bed that didn’t work. It’s a raised bed that runs around one side of my lovely potting shed which is covered with ivy. It can be dry as it’s sheltered from the rain, is in a fair bit of sun and the bed is extremely narrow and shallow. It’s barely a foot wide along much of it’s length. All in all it’s tricky!
I originally had this wonderful vision of having a little water feature – a sort of stream running through the area. I had in my head that the spot was much shadier than it really is. So Mr F-W duly constructed a running stream-like pond for me. I planned to surround it with smaller shade loving ferns and hostas. But the actual pond bit by necessity was quite small. It quickly clogged up with leaves all the time, and these got sucked into the pump.
Also the planting I had in mind for around this ‘stream’ was too shade-loving for the spot. I’d moved moss covered stones from other parts of the garden. I thought the water would look wonderful running past them. Although it looked great to begin with, none of it thrived there, it had too much direct sun. So I moved the mossy stones back to where they were happier. It was a flawed idea.
I left the whole thing alone for a couple of years – the stream now a stagnant pond – as I had other things to work on in other parts of the garden. Frankly I also left it as I lacked inspiration. What could I do with the troublesome area?
Hot Border Plants – the vision
Well thankfully that all changed a couple of months ago. I decided I couldn’t neglect it any more – and I had an idea. To remove the failed ‘stream’ and fill the area with hot border plants. My thinking was that hot coloured plant combinations would work well against the backdrop of the shed’s dark green ivy.
Hot Coloured Plant Combinations
The plants all needed to be hot colours – reds, yellows, oranges and the odd very hot pink. They had to be able to compete with ivy. My only other criteria was they needed to be very wildlife friendly. So the hot border plants I’ve gone for are:
- Potentilla Scarlet Starlit which has lovely, bright, pure scarlet red blossoms on silvery-green leaves. It flowers from June through to August. I’m realiably told it’s dead easy to grow and importantly for me it’s a bee magnet.
- Halimium Calycinum otherwise known as the yellow rock rose. This is absolutely smothered in yellow flowers in late spring and summer, it’s hardy and is good for butterflies.
- Many of you may have rumbled that I love Achillea. It’s an easy plant to grow and divide (I blogged about this a little while back). As a result I’ve oodles of the yellow Achillea Moonshine in pots and in other beds. Well for this new small bed, to add some peachy orange, I’ve gone for Achillea Terracotta. This has orange flat flower heads which fade to yellow with age. Mine’s not quite in bloom yet, but it looks promising – and it’s popular with hoverflies.
- The hot border planting scheme also includes another yellow rock rose – Helianthemum Ben Fhada. This differs from the other in that it has a strong orange blotch in the middle. I thought, like the achillea, its colour would act as a bridge between the yellow and orange planting. It is also bee friendly.
Hot Coloured Plant Combinations – got to have geums!
- I don’t know about you, but garden centres seem to have been awash with geums. It’s easy to see why. They are gorgeous, long flowering, work well in mixed borders and provide a bit of height, with repeating flowers dancing on slender stems. I’ve picked two for this hot border planting scheme – Geum Coral Tempest which grows about 45cm tall and Geum Totally Tangerine which reaches 90cm. They’re both totally gorgeous – offering almost non-stop flowering.
- To plug the gaps I’ve planted a few easy to grow yellow wall-flowers Erysimon Bredon. Solid no nonsense workers for the scheme.
Hot Border Plants – all change for the irises
The bed as it curves around the shed, was already planted with gorgeous Bearded Irises. Shape wise they are perfect against the shed but they were mauve. So, to continue the hot border planting scheme, and meld the two areas, I’ve moved the mauve irises and replaced them with – Old Hall and Red Kite. If you’re iris mad as I am, or want to move your own irises you can find out more about irises, and how I moved mine, in last week’s blog.
Don’t Forget the Pots
My ideas for hot coloured plant combinations don’t quite end there. The bed is approached directly from my backdoor, down a long and quite wide pathway. So I’ve planted up a few of the pots in this area to fit with the colour scheme. I’ve filled a wonderful big pot which formerly had tulips in it, with two more geums – the orangey red Mrs J Bradshaw and the yellow Lady Strathenden
I’ve also the hot pink, almost red Salvia Royal Bumble in a pot on its own (I plan to take cuttings from this later in the season). This isn’t out yet but I’m told it’s a lovely Salvia. It’s hugely popular with bees and other polinators and can cope with a bit of shade. I like plants that are ‘copers’ and aren’t too highly strung!
Alongside these newly planted pots, I’ve positioned some containers which I already had, planted up with grasses. I think they give a slightly ‘tropical feel’ which works with hot coloured plant combinations. I’ve also moved my pot of Heuchera Root Beer, which I’ve had for years. It produces flowers from Spring through to Autumn and I think fits in the hotter colour scheme well.
Hot Border Plants – will the rose work?
Lastly, in a large pot I’ve a standard rose which Dom, a chap in my village, kindly gave me the other day. It was a bit tired looking and he and his wife had no further use for it. So it’s next stop was potentially the compost heap/bin! Dom thought the flowers are red, though he wasn’t sure – so I’m hoping that’s right. If it isn’t red or hot pink, it will have to be moved. Pastels or white will not fit with my plan!
I’m not a massive fan of standard roses. I tend to think they look a bit unnatural. So I’ve planted the gorgeous Coreopsis Verticilata Zagreb around the rose’s base to mask its long bare stem. About half a meter tall, the Coreopsis produces lovely swaying yellow flowers from June to September. Alongside this I’ve also included an Echinacea Purpurea which I moved from elsewhere in my garden.
Hot Border Plants – a hotch potch
Moving forwards, I may have a go at growing Cannas and more exotic plants to add to the mix and potentially put further along the path leading up to our back door. Mindful that it’s progressively shadier along there of course! If I do the whole approach to the hot area will then have a more tropical feel which I think could work well. Though I’m conscious that I do live in a Cotswold cottage, so perhaps that would look odd. We’ll see.
But for now that’s it. As with a lot of gardening, only time will tell if these hot coloured plant combinations work and the plants are happy. This planting is all very new, so apologies the photos aren’t quite at the ‘wow’ level yet. But, even at this early stage, I think they look quite….er hot!
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