Bedding bedlam - time for an explosion of colour!
Publish Date: 16 May 2014
May is quite possibly one of the busiest months for gardeners up and down the country! The risk of frosts is diminishing (but they can have a habit of surprising us from time to time with a cold night), the days are lengthening and the temperatures are really beginning to warm up. What better way to signal the start of the true summer season then by planting out your summer bedding plants? Below are a few of Longacres top picks for adding colour to your garden now that will last all summer.
Marigolds
Marigolds are must have in any summer bedding scheme or planted container. With the African types that bear large showy blooms or the smaller but unbelievably free flowering French marigold, both come in an array of reds, yellows, oranges and whites!
Top Tips
- Keep out of any frost - make sure that if we are going to have a sharp cold night you protect your bedding with frost fleece
- Make sure the soil is light, nutrient rich and free-draining - keep well watered in the dry summer months
- Dead head regularly and dead head the old flowers to prolong their flowing period
- Plant FRENCH marigolds near your other plants or vegetables to help deter white fly
- Don't over water your geraniums - this can cause grey mould to develop on your plants
- Protect plants from slugs and snail using copper wire, or organic pellets
- Dead head the old flowers to prolong flowering and remove any yellow or damaged leaves as you see them to help the plant thrive
- Plant in full sun for the best flowers, deadheading the older flowers to prolong the flowing period
- Water regularly in high summer - don't let your New Guineas dry out
- Use the exotic & lush foliage as a feature as well as its showy flowers