Seasonal flowering plants?

[prettyprinceofpartiez]

Hello all,

I'm looking to fill my borders with plants to add some colour through the various months. At the moment I have red robin, Japanese acer, lavender and a couple of evergreen shrubs I'm not sure of the name of.

Looking to add some flowering plants that variously begin to flower from spring through to autumn but no idea where to start!

The soil gets sunshine daily but is definitely on the clay side.

Thank you!

Easy border plants include cranesbill geraniums, they have attractive leaves, clump up well and flower well. Penstemon are beautiful plants, taller than geraniums. Salvias also make good clumps, different varieties have different heights, some are quite tall. All the above will keep going until well into autumn and will come back next year.

other plants to take you into autumn and start your permanent collection would include rudbeckia, crocosmia,sedum, Japanese anemones.

all these are easy to grow , undemanding and most can be propagated by division next year to make more free plants.

if you fancy growing something from seed then sunflowers are easy, as are morning glory and nasturtium , plant them asap and they will be flowering by summer.

Meanwhile start to work on your soil. Start a compost heap, find a stable to give you free manure, recycle any soil or compost from old pots, make sure when you plant new plants that you dig a big enough hole , loosen the soil inside the hole and put in a few good handfuls of compost before you put in the plant.