Last week, I wrote about six plants for full sun which I have in my sunniest flower bed. You can read last week’s blog here.
I thought I’d complete the list with a further six which have worked for me.
I could suggest a lot of different plants as the bed in question is quite large. So to narrow things down, my chosen plants also tick three other boxes. They are brilliant for wildlife, they give me a long flowering period, and are easy to grow.
Plants for Full Sun – Rosa Little White Pet
If you have a small sunny bed and don’t feel you have room for a rose, think again. Rose Little White Pet is a dwarf variety. It only grows about 2ft x 2ft. I have it towards the front of my bed where it works brilliantly.
While it may be small, it’s a plant with a very big heart. This perpetual flowerer produces masses of small whitey-pink pompom type flowers all summer long.
There is a downside to all this. Deadheading! It takes effort as the flowers grow in clusters and there are lots of them – but it’s well worth it.
Salvia Nemorosa Caradonna
I have a swathe of this vibrant purple perennial towards the front of my bed. That’s because, as plants for full sun go, Salvia Nemorosa Caradonna is an absolute star.
Many top designers apparently have this Salvia in their lists of top 10 perennials. Indeed, it has won many awards including the RHS Award of Garden Merit. (If you see a plant with this AGM award, it’s a really good sign that it’s a reliable, top performing plant.) None of this surprises me. It’s wonderful.
This Salvia grows about 50cm tall and 30cm wide and flowers from May right through August. If you keep deadheading it you can still have some flowers in September.
Salvia Nemorosa Caradonna likes moist but well drained conditions. So while full sun is great, an absolute dessert will not put a smile on this plant’s face!
Sedum Hylotelephium Herbstfreude
This Sedum also known as Autumn Joy, lives up to its name. It has a flowering period from August through to October. I have two large clumps of Sedum Hylotelephium Herbstfreude in my sunny border, planted alongside Eryngium Blue Steel and the glorious plant Liatris Spicata.
Growing about 60cm high and 40cm wide, this Sedum looks wonderful when it first starts coming up, with its grey green fleshy leaves. Green rosettes of flowers then follow; these contrast wonderfully with other strong coloured plants in early summer.
Then the Sedum comes into bloom with Salmon pink changing to brick red flowerheads. After this you get the brown flowerheads which I don’t cut off until Spring. I like the structure and winter interest they provide – and they’re a great food source for birds.
Plants for Full Sun – Rose Wildeve
Wildeve is a real sunlover and a wonderful bushy shrub rose for a mixed sunny border. Growing 1m high and wide, it requires a fair bit of space, but it’s worth it. The glorious slightly apricotty pink blooms come throughout the summer. Mine is still smothered in flowers as we head into September. It smells delicious and has a lovely arching shape. It’s prone to a bit of black spot, but I’m afraid most of my roses are.
Mexican Feather Grass
You may think this is an unual choice but I have Stipa Tenuissima (Mexican Feather Grass as it’s commonly known), as a central focal point in my sunny bed. It provides a perfect contrast to more rigid plants like roses and grows about 60cm tall.
With swaying thread-like stems, topped with feathery seed heads (which winter birds love), it provides movement and softness. It definitely holds its own even when next to lovely roses, Echinacea and Phlox.
It certainly won’t suit everyone’s planting style. In fact, someone messaged me on Facebook saying they thought it looked scruffy, and they couldn’t have it in a bed like this! No plant is for everyone – I completely get that. Indeed, I have a bit of a love hate relationship with Fuschias, yet I know loads of people love them. I want to love Fuschias, I really do, but mostly I hate them!
But this Stipa I do love. It really delivers – and it’s no trouble. I give it a very satisying chop if I think its stems are getting out of hand – that’s it! Oh and my dog Bunty sleeps under it. I couldn’t deprive her of her sleeping spot!
Cistus Obtusifolius ‘Thrive’
In my sunny bed I originally planned to have three Box balls. I thought they would make the planting look more sophisticated, adding structure to the design. However, I saw this wonderful evergreen shrub, Cistus Obstusifolius, and couldn’t resist! So my ideas of sophistication went out of the window. I decided to have three of these instead and plant them where the Box balls were meant to go!
Admittedly these plants aren’t as formal looking as Box and their blooms only last a day. But they flower so freely throughout the summer that they are well worth having. Gorgeous white flowers, with egg-yolk yellow centres all summer long, who can resist that!!
So that’s my six additional plants for full sun. But how can I say they are winners?
Well, as I look out on my garden at the end of August all these plants are still providing colour and interest in my sunny border. They’re pleasing me, the birds, bees, butterflies – and Bunty! That’s good enough for me.
