The best of summer -The Gardener : The Gardener

The best of summer

Join Freddie to find out what’s new and trending in the world of bedding plants. These Flowering Favourites are available this month at garden centres countrywide ready to be planted in your garden or in a pot.

Summer annuals offer more than just colour, texture, and variety in a garden. They also thrive in the heat of summer, offering a flowering display right until autumn and sometimes longer. Fill gaps left by spring flowering annuals, create heat-loving containers filled with these annuals, and support pollinators like bees, butterflies, and birds for a lively outdoor extravaganza.

Verbenas

For bright, long-lasting colour in the hottest months, you can’t go wrong with annual verbenas. They thrive in full sun, but can also take shade and have clusters of flowers in a choice of many different colours. Annual Verbena is particularly valued for its tolerance to heat and drought, making it easy to care for once established.

Regular deadheading of spent blooms can promote new flower growth, and they are known for attracting butterflies and bees. It does best in well-draining soil and will benefit from regular feeding, especially if grown in containers.

Well-draining soil is essential, as verbenas are prone to root rot if kept too wet.

This season’s varieties

‘Firehouse’ – a mounding, spreading form for full sun or partial shade, heat-tolerant, 25 cm height x 56 cm width.

‘Cadet’ – upright habit, tough and disease resistant, 25 cm height x 36 cm width.

‘Vanessa’ – excellent habit for containers, 30 cm x 30 cm.

Honourable mentions

For other low-maintenance, heat-tolerant annuals that provide colour, look out for begonias that will grow well in the shade and angelonias for full sun. Both these annuals have beautiful flowers in plenty of colours. They do very well in containers.

In the food garden

Not to be missed, some vegetables are annuals, too. Carrots can vary greatly in colour, shape, and size. The shorter carrot types grow well in heavy soil, while the longer varieties need loose and fertile soil.

Also, grow eggplants like ‘Patio Baby’, ‘Orange Torpedo’, and ‘Black Beauty’ this month. Eggplants thrive in warm, sunny conditions and prefer well-drained, nutrientrich soil and plenty of water. They are heavy feeders, so add plenty of compost when planting and feed with a balanced fertilizer during the growing season to support growth and fruit production.

A lovely summer combo of ‘Bonanza Yellow’ marigolds, green basil leaves, and ‘Patio Baby’ eggplant works well together in a container.

Vincas

Catharanthus roseus (vincas) hybrids are low-maintenance plants with glossy green foliage and flowers in shades of red, purple, pink, peach, and white. They are especially suited to warm climates, as they thrive in full sun, are heat- and drought-tolerant, and are generally unbothered by pests and diseases. They are perfect for garden beds, borders, or containers, where they will flower continuously throughout summer and into autumn.

Plant in well-drained soil and water moderately, letting the soil dry out between waterings to prevent root rot. They don’t require much feeding, but a light dose of balanced fertiliser in mid-summer will produce more flowers.