low maintenance colourful shrubs, annuals and the dreaded slug

[bunny27]

Can anyone recommend low maintenance but nice coloured shrubs / perennials that slugs dont eat !! I want to plant them in my almost bare borders. Also Last year I planted pots with geranium, petunia etc .They looked lovely for approx 4 weeks then the slugs got to them. What is the best way to get rid of them ?

can I hijack a little please [bublush] ..... suggestions for the above + attractive to bees as well - any suggestions??

Depends on soil type and how sunny your garden is. I love Lilac (although that's a tree, I suppose), and we have nandina domestica (pretty leaves), roses, fuscias & variegated Hebes. Also lots of herbs like rosemary and lavender

Lavender and lilac v good for bees too.

My top plants for colour and/or bees are :

Cotinus/smoke bush - prune once a year, fantastic rich coloured leaves and beautiful autumn colours. Probably my favourite plant in the whole garden.

Sedum - especially the purple leaved varieties, fantastic for bees and no slug damage (in my garden anyway!) just cut back flowerheads in early spring.

Aquilegia - never seems to get attacked and beautiful flowers that keep coming for ages if you deadhead regularly ( i know you said low maintenance, but it's only a few minutes a day )

Buddleia, of course ! Cut back hard in spring, some varieties grow at a fantastic rate, beautiful fragrant flowers that bees and butterflies love...can be a bit of a thug though !

First time gardener, so nothing tried and tested, but have been researching the same thing recently, and so far have come up with:
Astrantia - slugs hate especially
rosemary
lavender
blue ribbed hostas
marjoram
sedum
mint
chives - in particular garlic chives
curry plantwat

Apparently slugs tend to leave alone bizzy lizzies and begonias

You should be safe with any woody stemmed plants rather than water filled stemmed plants. Though have you considered planting a sacrificial patch for slugs with something like calendula, which they love, and then dispatching them from their feeding grounds?

*should read curry plant - getting carried away with watering ideas