What flowers can I plant now for quick colour and impact?

[jinglejangle6]

I’m a novice gardener sprucing up my garden for summer and now I’ve removed all the weeds, there are quite a lot of gaps in the beds. What plants can I put in now that will add colour, fill the space, last for at least a month and are not too expensive?

The garden is sunny for about half the day and the soil is clay and in good condition.

Any ideas very gratefully received!

Sounds similar to my garden. If the clay is very heavy, mix in some peat-free topsoil to improve it where you plant.

My snapdragons are doing well, as are the winter-flowering pansies and violas. I've just planted some pinks in the sunniest spot, which smell gorgeous. Geraniums would fit your brief as well.

Plant bulbs in the autumn ready for next spring. Daffodils are better value than tulips - they last for months (rather than days) and come back year after year.

Violas, impatiens, verbena

Thanks! What about a hydrangea? Will it be in bloom now?

My two hydrangea aren't in flower yet. Marigolds and petunias give instant colour, any bedding plants would to be honest and they're very cheap.

Thanks! I’m confused - looking online, is it “plug plants” that I want? Or are they not fully grown? I want an instant garden basically for the family to enjoy this summer!

Try wallflowers (Erysimums) - repeated flowering if you snip back after flowering, rudbeckia, cosmos, clematis (a climber), salvia, verbena. DO NOT get plug plants (which are about 1 inch high), buy larger plants from a garden centre - more expensive but they will live. I wouldn’t buy on-line either.

Plug plants are little more than seedlings. They won't be ready to go into the garden, especially into cold clay.

You need bedding plants. The sort of thing that comes in trays of 6 and are about 4-10 inches tall. Choose ones that are strong-looking and well-watered, with plenty of buds.

Get them from a garden centre rather than a supermarket, they will almost certainly be better cared-for and the staff will be able to advise you.

And all those, except the cosmos, should flower again next year if you cut them back in the autumn. Clematis you prune at different times depending on the one you get.

If I was in this situation I would stick in the following: a rose, petunias, geraniums, fuschia, salvia. I know a rose or salvia is a bit more expensive, but they’re not an annual so you can enjoy them year after year and therefore actually better value.

I wouldn’t buy on line plug plants, but nip down to the garden centre and buy plants, as suggested above, already in bud.
I’ve done ‘instant gardening’ this way, to fill gaps when having summer family events or selling a house.

Don't buy plugs now, they'll need potting on and growing. I've just bought some candelabra petunia ones, after discovering them last week - they're stunning and I want them in the garden, but they won't be going in for ages.

Best bet is to go to your local garden centre/supermarket/b&q and see what they have. If you want things that will come back every year, look for perennials. It's always good to have some of those in, as they look great when the garden comes to life. None of mine have actually done that yet this year, starting to get some leaves coming back, but they'll get there.

For instant colour, look for bedding plants, you can usually get trays of plenty for not too much £££ and they really brighten things up

If you don't need it for next year just go to your local garden centre or homebase etc and get a few packs of bedding plants. If you want to spend a little more hut have it come back next year I'd go for perennials. Hollyhocks, lupins, aqualegia are all good for colour and height and will self seed so you'll have more next year

Thanks for the excellent advice everyone! Sounds like a trip to the garden centre is in order!

Hardy geraniums ( try rozanne), bung in some calendula seeds even some nasturtium seeds, and get some annuals.

Yes hollyhocks (tall though; plant at the back) or lupins would be good.

Roses like clay and are easy. The geranium variety Rosanne is great for summer long blooms and a hardy perennial, so will return each year.

Do you have a Morrison’s close by? That’s where I usually go for bedding plants - generally a nice selection and cheaper than garden centres.

I’ve just bought 4 packs of bedding plants from Wilko. There are six plants in each pack and were on offer for four packs at £6. They’re in lovely condition and look great. I got lobelia and petunia.

Petunias are great if you want something cheap, instant and long lasting. Remember to dead head them

It sounds as though if you've got a lot of gaps you should put in some perennials, and shrubs such as the hydrangea you mentioned and then fill in this year with some annual bedding plants.

With perennials and shrubs, as you should have them for years it's worth reading up a bit about how big they get (especially with shrubs!) and when they flower. It's easy to be seduced by plants looking gorgeous at the garden centre and end up with a lot all flowering at the same time then nothing later in summer.

Look on your local buy nothing sites as people often give plants away . Some talented gardeners near me sell plants at the roadside. Definitely Petunias for lots of colour .

I think you need to decide whether you want a) a quick fix for summer, or whether you want to b) grow plants that will last for a good few years but probably won’t be at their best filling up space until next year, though they will have colour or c) a mix of the above.

In money terms a) is probably the cheapest short term but there will be no return on the plants in future years. B) will cost you quite a lot more, and many of the plants will survive and will eventually give good value, but as a beginner you are bound to make expensive mistakes which you will need to allow for. C) is expensive but will give you well filled borders and some carry over for next year.

I would go for a) , bedding plants are relatively inexpensive and you will learn a lot from planting and caring for them.

Spend time this summer looking around at local gardens ( google the yellow book scheme) finding out what shrubs and perennial plants you like the look of and what grows well in your location. Most gardeners are friendly people and only to happy to share their experience (and sometimes cuttings). Look out for local plant sales, school fetes, allotment open days etc for cheap plants. Look online at retailers like Sarah Raven, Beth Chatto. Read a few books by gardeners like Beth Chatto, Christopher Lloyd, Marjory Fish who write well and love plants.

tips : Plan to buy bulbs in the autumn. Always look at the reduced counters in garden centres. (I found out my local DIY store reduced plants on a Wednesday afternoon) Work on improving your soil. Start a compost heap. Your council might offer cheap bins /water butts. Buy the best quality tools you can and look after them.

Happy gardening.

You could always get a few bright pots and put violas and pansies in them.

Pelargoniums will give colour from now until the frosts kill them in autumn.

@BlueSurfer has a good point in that you can plant perennials that may not flower this year, but use bright pots/ garden decor for pops of colour.

For sunny spots, some salvia will last until first frosts, or into September at least. Lots are hardy (will come back year after year). My most hardy varieties are hot lips, Amistad and cerise potosi.

Astrantia major also flowers for ages in my garden.

If you want a flowering shrub, escallonia pink elle is about to flower and will flower again in September, is evergreen (good for structure) and will stay small ish (one metre height and spread).

My hydrangeas are yet to flower.

Geranium Rozanne is also a long and prolific flowerer and is in flower now, always hardy in my garden.