Nick Hamilton from Barnsdale Gardens sings the praises of bright summer perennials and annuals
I am a life-long fan of tender perennials, primarily because they are such good value for money. I use them to boost areas in the smaller gardens at Barnsdale in different ways.
They are generally either long-flowering or later flowering; they will survive the winter if protected and are very easy to propagate.
I like the idea of putting out plants in full flower and instantly boosting the look of not just my borders but my walls and patios too, because I use this range of plants in gaps in borders that I’ve left deliberately, as well as in moveable containers. It also means that I can use varieties that flower all summer and autumn in pockets of a small garden border, leaving space to grow plants that give interest at other times of the year.
Transform a drab spot with colour
If you are a keen propagator then buy one plant and increase your stock by taking softwood cuttings. But if propagating is not your thing, then look around because you can buy these plants in plugs or smaller pots, which makes the ratio of pence spent per flower produced equate to outstanding value.
Add them to the tender perennial plugs of annuals that are also excellent for either border or containers and we have a plethora of varieties to really lift any small space throughout summer and autumn.
I have several walls and fences that would otherwise be bare if I didn’t use wall pots to break that starkness, so by creating extra vertical growing opportunities for flowering plants you can transform a dark and uninteresting spot into a wall or fence to impress. My dad (Geoff Hamilton) also made an auricula theatre for his Cottage Garden series, which hangs on a bare section of fencing, and we fill that with potted pelargoniums once the auriculas have finished.
Create a picture perfect patio
It only takes two or three pots filled with tender perennials and/or annuals to break up the solidity of a hardstanding patio surface and enhance it massively.
There is no need to think that you need to go mad and place hundreds of containers around and about or fill your borders with these plants in order to get an effect, because gardening is all about having enough at every time of the year. Just a small amount of the following suggestions will lift any small space to new heights.
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Plants for wall pots
I like to use a mix of these tender perennials.
Tender geraniums (Pelargonium spp), verbena (Glandularia spp), sanvitalia (Melampodium montanum) and trailing fuchsia and then top them up with the following annuals: Petunias, bacopas (Sutera grandiflora), million bells (Calibrachoa spp), busy lizzie (Impatiens spp), black-eyed susan (Thunbergia alata) and lobelias.
With the combination of our Helenium Tearoom wall facing south and the pots being small, the tender perennials also have excellent drought tolerance and the ability to bounce back when watering is missed! This makes them also perfect for any other container or border in a hot, sunny spot.
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Extra plants for small borders or containers
Added to those tender perennials already mentioned I also use argyranthemums, Arctotis spp, osteospermums, nemesias, gazanias, cosmos, dahlias and salvias. The tender salvias are the more woody types, such as ‘Hot Lips’ and ‘Cherry Lips’, which flower all summer, as well as the later flowering Salvia guaranitica types, such as ‘Blue Enigma’ or ‘Black and Blue’. The last two are taller, so we may need to be careful when placing one in a smaller garden.
All of these tender perennials are easily propagated too, which is important as they will get woody and unattractive after three to five years. There is also a good range of hard-hitting annuals that will compliment these perennials or that can be used instead of in containers or in a border, such as larkspurs, zinnias, antirrhinums, sweet peas and dwarf sunflowers, to name but a few.
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