Arguably, the most successful area of my garden is my sunny bed. This wraps its way around two sides of my patio and is packed with sunny border plants.
I spent months – and I really do mean months – planning what to put in this bed. I sat at my table every evening from October through to February mapping out the area, weighing up different plant options and preparing the ground. If only I’d been that diligent with my school work when young!
The end result is a bed which three years on looks (I think) rather lovely. It’s very full – my planting style is cottage garden i.e. wild. But my plant choices are classics which would suit any style of garden.
So I thought I’d share a few of them with you.
The bed in question is quite large – it has a 20 metre perimeter. Inevtiably it features a lot of plants! So I’ll cover them all in a series of blogs over the coming months. This week I’m going to focus on some of the slightly taller plants in the border.
Sunny Border Plants – Veronica
First up is a stand-out beauty, Veronicastrum Adoration. I have a drift of it (9 plants), creating a major impact in the middle of the border. The plant has lovely slender shimmering mauve spikes which are an absolute bee magnet. It grows to about 1.2m in height – so it’s quite a statement plant.
It’s meant to be a long-flowering plant – lasting from midsummer to early autumn. But I have to say that my Veronicas don’t quite stay in flower that long. I’m not sure why. Perhaps my deadheading technique with this plant isn’t quite right. Or maybe it needs more water. I’m going to investigate what I’m doing wrong and when I’ve worked it out I’ll let you know!
Sunny Border Plants – Astrantia
Astrantia is a cottage garden classic and an ideal sunny border plant. I have a clump of seven. There are so many you could go for – and they’re all easy to care for. I have Astrantia Major Rosea. Well that’s what I ordered, but mine has turned out a bit more claret coloured than I expected. So it may be that it’s not Rosea at all! But to be honest, I don’t think it matters too much which one you end up with. They are all fantastic workers – with their pretty pin-cushion flowers going from June until August. Actually with really regular deadheading I can keep mine in bloom well into September!
Rose Jacqueline Du Pré
No cottage garden scheme is complete without roses and my sunny bed has four in it. They’re all equally gorgeous for different reasons, but the one I’m going to focus on in this blog is Rose Jacqueline Du Pre as she is planted next to the Astrantia.
If I’m betting on a horse race the first thing that draws me is the horse’s name. It’s the same with roses; the name is the first thing that attracts me. So it helped that Jacqueline is named after the iconic cellist whose career (and life) were tragically cut short. If you have a moment do Google her to see her playing Elgar…I digress! Suffice to say that the rose lives up to the legend.
Indeed, she is one of my favourite plants in the world! She’s a creamy blush white colour with the most incredible velvety blooms. The centres of which are raspberry and gold. The rose grows to about 1x1m in size and flowers for absolutely ages.
Phlox Paniculata Mount Fuji
One of my big aims when designing this sunny border was to have it in bloom for as long a period as possible – and very wildlife friendly. This is where the Phlox comes in. Not only has this plant the most gorgeous scent and a magnet for insects, but Phlox Mount Fuji is a late flowering variety. It provides frothy white flowers in the border from August through to October. So as the Veronica has fades, the Phlox which is planted next to it picks up the baton.
This is a tall Phlox, it grows about 0.9m in height so may need staking, unless like mine it’s so surrounded by plants that it stays upright. This Phlox also doesn’t like soil that dries out in the summer. So while it’s one of my top sunny border plants do bear that in mind.
In the picture above you can see the Phlox growing behind sedum and Liatris Spicata. You can find out more about these two plants in my blog on great plant combinations. Read it here. I think you’ll agree, these are two more great sunny border plants.
Echinacea Purpurea Magnus
Next up is that classic of sunny border plants – Echinacea. In my case, threading through the bed, is Echinacea Purpurea Magnus. From June to September its big daisy-like flowers are awash with bees and butterflies. Growing about 75cm tall it really holds its own, even when surrounded by much taller plants.
Campanula Lactiflora Prichards Variety
To round off today’s six I have Campanula Lactiflora Prichards Variety. Growing to almost 1m this is a lovely purple clump-forming campanula. It has clusters of bell type flowers in a really strong purple. I like this as there’s a real risk with cottage garden planting that things end up a bit wishy-washy!
It’s worth noting that this plant self-seeds a lot. I’m careful to pull up the seedlings I don’t want in the border, as otherwise it would run riot. So be prepared to do the same. That said, I’ve let the Campanula seed in the gaps around the paving on my patio. The plants in the cracks don’t grow as tall, but are so pretty!
Well that’s my first 6 suggestions of great mid-sized plants for a sunny border. I hope you like them.
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