Ideas for colourful garden planters

[MaggieMcGill]

I have two garden planters measuring 1 metre by 50 cm. I’d like to get them planted up with flowers that will add colour from spring through to autumn if possible. I have bought some dwarf daffodil bulbs for spring but I have no idea what to put in for Summer colour. I have orange Lilly bulbs which are gorgeous when they flower but I’m lucky if the flowers last a week. Can anyone suggest bulbs, perennials or self seeding plants that will give me bursts of colour throughout summer and come back each year with minimal fuss?

hardy fuschia might be suitable, or crocosmia or penstemon. but if you want the daffodils, then you'll need something that dies back to nothing in the spring.

but for instant summer colour in planters, the typical thing is to head to the garden centre & get whatever little bedding plants look good this week, and then put in new ones the next year.

Unless you’ve bought lots of different varieties of daffodils that flower at different times you’ll only have daffodils for one to two months of the year.
I would put in more spring bulbs that flower at a different time to your daffodils.
My geums are reliable flowering early summer flowering, sometimes with a second flush, buddleja is good for later summer.

Crocuses for sure, maybe some iris reticulata for early colour.

In many ways, the least fuss for year round colour is to supplement bulbs and a few other 'backbone' plants with annuals - pansies and violas in the winter and spring, many other choices for summer eg perlagoniums or petunias. They don't take long to plant.