Going for BOLD

Try out the trend for striking colours and foliage

- CHRIS MORLEY

Confident colour

This year is all about embracing upbeat colours, according to the RHS. That means experimenting with red, yellow, orange and purple shades, whether splashed generously around beds and borders, or in well-chosen focal points, such as pots clustered around the front door to offer a loud and cheery welcome. As well as injecting energy to your garden, many of these bright stars flower all the way to autumn, giving you plenty of value for money.

Fearless foliage

Some of the boldest leaves belong to tropical plants that can be taken outdoors in the summer months and brought inside for winter. Keep them in pots and you can move them around to pep up dull spaces. Try Caladium ‘Freida Hemple’, which has heart-shaped, velvety maroon leaves with lime edges; or Coleus ‘Chocolate Mint’, for cocoa-coloured leaves with a ribbon of green around the margins.