Your plant recommendations from expert plantsman, Michael.
Happy New Year to you all. Now, I’d usually be the type to shy away from trends articles so please see this more as a collection of my freshest ideas, all inspired by my 2023 travels and countless enjoyable conversations with breeders, growers and consumers at events and nurseries across Europe.
More resilient bedding plants
The perception of bedding is changing. Breeders are starting to recognise our changing needs when it comes to filling our borders with long-lasting colour. Those neat little soldier-like plants of times gone are being replaced by more open, branched specimens- with plenty more flowers and border presence. Remember, the more soil you cover, the less chance you’ll have weeds to deal with and watering requirements can be lessened!
It’s also possible for bedding plants to keep a range of pollinators happy too, with Calibrachoa and some of the fab new Cuphea taking the lead with their nectar rich blooms. There’s absolutely no reason why you can’t throw the definition of bedding on its head by using some of the perennial Coreopsis verticillata and long-blooming penstemons mixed up with those marigolds. Just remember you can leave them in the ground after flowering, and they’ll reward you with a grateful round two the year after!
Houseplant identity crisis
I love experimenting and over the past few years, I’ve been planting up some very different containers for my summer patio. I’ve looked outside the patio planter isles when it comes to choosing my specimens and might easily select some ornamental grasses, a perennial or two, or even be proper racy and add a few houseplants into the mix.
Actually if you glance back at pictures of Victorian bedding mixes, there were often spider plants Chlorophytum used alongside rainbow begonias. I’ve been taking this a stage further by mixing Tradescantia into my patio pots, a few Philodendron scandens into window boxes and a few Crotons (Codieaum) with my pot dahlias!
Venus fly traps
Thanks to a very high profile television advert (with accompanying promo soft toy) during December, sales of Venus fly trap plants have increased hugely. The ideal time to invest in one of these fascinating plants will be during the spring, as plants return to their growing season. It’s a really fun windowsill plant, which can engage adults and children alike.
Venus fly traps can also be grown outdoors during the summer, although you’ll also find varieties which are hardy. Just don’t panic when they disappear underground each winter – who can blame them after all?
No water pots & baskets
Whether you’re trying to be more sustainable, or you’re just a bit lazy (or very busy) when it comes to low-water maintenance summer pot plants, there are plenty to choose from.
The many Sedum cultivars have glorious bushy growth and are ideal for containers or hanging baskets. Mix them up with fellow drought-hardy Osteospermum and you can create a very colourful, undemanding display.
Think about table-top displays too, a low dish of Echeveria and Pachyphytum is fun, colourful and won’t need a drop of water all summer!
Planting by numbers
Are we getting lazier as gardeners, or simply better at developing ways to entice newbies? Across the industry, growers are starting to release ‘multi-planted potted plants’, with three closely-planted specimens in one container. Perhaps the most popular is the ‘Trixi’ series from Selecta in Germany, where delightfully colour-coordinated mixes bring together Calibrachoa, Verbena and petunias – it really is like planting by numbers.
‘Peach Fuzz’
Finally, there’s been a buzz about the Pantone Colour of the Year for 2023, which has just been released. ‘Peach Fuzz’ is the chosen hue. However, I can’t help feeling that Pantone is behind the curve here, as gardeners have been enjoying peachy and apricot tones over the past few years, thanks to the revival of dahlias, new breeding in cosmos, and the continuing triumph of tulips. A versatile shade, peach fuzz could be blended with similar pastel tones, or jazzed up with strong purples and pinks. It’s time to get your paint box out, people!
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