Autumn Glory

Enjoy a cracking show of colour over the cooler months, says Martyn Cox, as he explains how to get the best from autumn bedding from autumn until spring

- Martyn Cox

A MILD start to autumn will extend the life of summer bedding plants, but it won’t be long until those tender so-and-sos call it a day. Don’t mourn the loss of colour, though – simply replace it with some fresh seasonal plants that have a more robust constitution and you can enjoy a cracking show over the cooler months ahead.

At this time of year, garden centres and nurseries are chock-a-block with young bedding plants that will provide interest from autumn into spring, depending on the variety. These can be combined in containers or in the ground with shrubs, conifers and grasses sold in small pots, along with evergreen trailing plants.

Pansies, primroses, polyanthus, cyclamen and violas are among the autumn and winter-flowering bedding stalwarts, while forget-me-nots, large-flowered bedding daisies (Bellis perennis), scented stocks, wallflowers and sweet Williams are available for planting now, ready to bloom from spring onwards.

Elsewhere, look out for plants prized for their foliage, such as ornamental cabbages, Senecio cineraria ‘Silver Dust’ and trailing ivies, and evergreen shrubs like variegated euonymus, aucuba and hebes – don’t buy specimens in large pots, but those in 3in (7.5cm) pots, offered specifically for mixed container displays.

Ornamental grasses will provide colour, texture, movement and help to fill any gaps in arrangements. Carex oshimensis ‘Evergold’, Festuca glauca and Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’ are all superb. The one I turn to the most is Carex comans bronzeleaved, a sedge with wispy brown leaves.

Pansies and violas