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What you plant in spring will reward you with beauty, colour and fragrance right through the warmer months.
Nothing shouts the arrival of the season louder than a garden filled with bright flowers which say ‘spring has sprung’! When you discover how easy they are to grow, you’ll find yourself adding a little here, maybe a few more there and, ooh, wouldn’t this spot look good filled with blooms? It doesn’t matter how far you spread, you can never have too many flowers!
Follow this guide on ways to buy your potted colour and tips to help them flourish. You might even find your sunny but unused front lawn evolving into a beautiful meadow of blossoms. Wouldn’t that be lovely!
WHAT FLOWERS WANT
- Reasonably good soil which is easy to dig, fairly dark in colour and not boggy after prolonged rain. You can improve any average garden soil by adding a dose of organic matter to it – well-rotted manure and crumbly brown compost both work well.
- Scatter a little controlled-release fertiliser around plants after planting and water over with a soluble fertiliser each month, starting about two to three weeks after planting.
- Deadheading – as individual flowers finish, snap or snip them off and the plant will want to produce more. Deadheading keeps the plant looking fresh and the new buds coming.
- Full sun for at least six hours a day. Not many flowers bloom well in shade.
Feature the flowers
Search for quirky or classic items that will add a layer of interest to your garden. This new-old door not only divides the space but stands out against the foliage.
Blend it
Flowers look best when adjacent plants bloom in colours that harmonise with each other. Here, the magenta bougainvillea has just enough blue in it to blend well with the purple cineraria in front.
Frame a view
Use a door frame to create a window with a view of an attractive plant grouping across the road, in effect bringing them into your garden. Use fine woodchips for an easyto-lay path for level ground.
Add colourful characters to the mix
Nicely coordinated and cute as, this ornamental wire bunny has found a home among orange nemesia, lime green Euphorbia ‘Craigieburn’ and two-tone toadflax (Linaria sp.).
‘Paint’ a plant picture
Use combinations of plants, pots and accessories such as this chair to create little scenes. In a flower garden, it’s important accessories are coloured to go well with the plants. Don’t forget to use green accents as well.
Hit the heights
Placing large pots within flower beds lets you create plantings which sit above the general height of the surrounding garden.
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