How To Keep Colour In A Border

Christopher Lloyd explains how he groups plants in his border for long-lasting colour

- Christopher Lloyd

One of the greatest arts in gardening is the management of an important border so that it looks colourful, interesting and presentable over as long a season as possible. It is not easy and you will never be wholly successful, but it is a fascinating exercise and an absorbing challenge.

Often you can combine two different plants in the same grouping. For instance, bulbs among herbaceous perennials, such as tulips with Aster x frikartii. This aster is a boon. Unlike the general run of Michaelmas daisies, which flower for a mere fortnight in September, Aster x frikartii gets going with its large lavender daisies in early August and keeps it up for two months.

Alluring alliums

Alliums or ornamental onions do well among certain low shrubs and perennials, too. The grey-leaved Senecio cineraria ‘White Diamond’ has to be cut hard back each April. You can take advantage of its ensuing nakedness by interplanting it with Allium ostrowskianum [A. oreophilum], with bright-pink umbels in May and June. I also grow the pure-white A. neapolitanum, which has a similar season, among the purple-leaved procumbent Sedum [Hylotelephium] ‘Ruby Glow’.