Arrange a flowerbed with me

[Greentomatoes21]

I am so excited to be getting a big ish raised bed tomorrow!!!! My garden is mostly patio and so I have survived with pots everywhere.

I LOVE flowers and colour but have no idea what to fill it with to get the most out of it year round. I know taller plants go at the back etc but WHAT plants is my question...and where to position in the raised bed to give good height structure?

Only things I really want are deep purply lavender plant(s) somewhere in it and opportunities for spring bulbs to come up before the summer flowers take off. I also have some delphinium in pots that I grew from seed last year so would like to transfer those somewhere.

Anyone want to offer some suggestions?

Oh, garden is sound facing and gets really hot in summer. The raised bed will be in the sun. (But we are in Northern Ireland so sun is never guaranteed in summer!)

Congratulations on your new bed ☺️

When you say raised bed, do you mean it is being created from scratch and fresh soil put in?

What are the dimensions, including the height? Is it in the middle of the garden, so you can walk all around it, or is it bordering a fence?

How about a nice salvia such as amethyst lips? It’s lovely and purple, flowers for a long time and is very fragrant

Don’t stick to tall plants at the back. Dot them about in the borders to give a more natural look. Hibiscus are really easy to grow and come back every year.
J Parker plants have bare rooted ones on offer and this is a perfect time to plant.

are there any colours you particularly like or dislike? If lavender is a favourite you will be wanting alkaline soil with good drainage so veering towards Mediterranean type plants? Cistus, rosemary (fragrant and evergreen), salvias…. Maybe also roses (so many to choose from but fragrance is always important to me) Are your delphiniums blue? Look into ways to protect them from slugs. You can get eco friendly options like wool pellets or copper piping to defend them. Lupins are also gorgeous but prone to slugs. Perhaps some hardy geraniums at the front of the border - some of them flower for months. Roxanne or Johnson’s blue…

Hi! Thanks!! 😁
It's on legs, approx waist height (I'm only 5ft though). 2m length, 0.5m wide. It's against a white wall. So can only access 3 sides but narrow enough so I can deal with all areas easily. It's deep so we are filling the lower half cheaply with good drainage items and then the upper half with fresh soil due to be delivered soon 😀

Perfect, have popped one in my basket. They look lovely.

Yes I think the delphiniums will be blue - only planted last spring and this variety don't flower the first year so this year is going to be more exciting! Thanks for the heads up on the slugs!

I’ve got a newish bed too, one of two in a patio garden. I built it last autumn and threw in lots of daffodils, Russian snowdrops (it’s completely shaded in winter but a sun trap in summer - ground floor flat and south-west facing - so I thought Russian ones would cope with lack of sunlight at the normal snowdrop time), Scilla siberius (bluebell-ish things), tulips, hollyhocks, anemones. I’ve just planted a jasmine and a honeysuckle (£7 from tesco) to climb up the wall behind it.

I have heavy clay soil in the other bed so made this one raised so I could add lots of soil and grow things that wouldn’t cope with clay. The only thing that really took off in the other bed is roses, the salvias didn’t survive the winter as it gets so waterlogged and then bakes hard in summer.

Perhaps something trailing at the front? Lots of plants have trailing varieties, so decide on a flower you like and see if it has a trailing form. Or variegated ivy, it's evergreen so they'll be something all year. Keep an eye on it so it's no too thuggish. Perhaps a small climbing shrub for the back? Just noticed a pp has suggested honeysuckle, there's also clematis. Obviously when thinking about the height of plants take into account the height of the bed too.

Oh, and I have a geum, some rock soapwort, and a potentilla as well, which had all survived my haphazard watering in pots and now look much happier in the bed though they won’t flower until May. I planted a peony but there’s no sign of it at all and I’m wondering if it died over the winter.
I’m waiting to see how everything looks in summer and will then fill in gaps. At the moment the snowdrops and blue things are flowering and the daffs are just starting and everything else is sprouting up and it looks very cheerful.

So hoping for an overall look of shades of purple, pink and white. Going for Mediterranean ish plants (i think!) as really the area can get very, very hot and sunny and they'll need to withstand it.

In my basket I now have:

• Lavender x1 (deep purple)
• Salvia x1 (purple/white)
• Hibiscus x1 (hardy variety, white flowers)
• Considering yarrow (pink) x1

• Alliums (to spot around along with my Delphiniums).

I am planning on putting 4 main plants in across the length of the 2.5m. Will see how they go and then maybe add some geraniums etc. if looking ok. I might put some trailing lobelia near the front and sides.

Does this sound OK?

Sounds gorgeous!! Yes I hope to bung in a few daffs and snowdrops in the autumn so I get a nice springy, cheerful lead in the summer months.

Verbena bonariensis would look very pretty at the back against the white wall.

Off to Google!

perhaps for the pink a ballerina rose? (Mid border size) or cutie pie (compact for front of border) - open flowers so easy for bees and butterflies to access the stamens.

Rosemary, the foliage smells lovely, it had pretty purple flowers that bees love, very Mediterranean too. I've got one in a pot that I grew from the supermarket packs. Just stuck the leftover twigs in a glass of water until they rooted. Also thyme, pick a variety you like, some of them will trail.

you could have some fragrant thyme at the front which could trail over the edges. Perhaps some purple leafed sage…

Thanks so much to EVERYONE so far - I didn't think I'd get any replies! Now I can't keep up 🤣 I am loving all the suggestions. Just love my wee garden and this is my first opportunity to make it completely divine after a few years of babies and work on the house. I'm so excited!

Agree with ICake. I have planted several rosemary plants - the most successful one is one I picked up in the supermarket. I have an extremely successful mint that I picked up years ago from Tesco too (but don’t put mint in your raised bed - keep it contained in a pot as it can spread like mad!). I love lots of fragrant herbs in the garden.

Trailing rosemary would look nice at each front corner.

Ooh, I’m in NI too and have just got 4 raised beds! I’m a bit overwhelmed on where to start, but I’m thinking of some agapanthus which I already have in pots and was going to divide, some red hot pokers, and nepeta (cat nip).

Gardeners World possibly last week or 2 weeks ago had a piece from RHS Hampton Court with what seemed to be a whole raised bed section. Lots of inspiration in that.

also, not raised beds, but the planting at the Coronation garden in Hazelbank is incredible. I plan to go again soon for ideas.

Hibiscus will be too big for your bed. How deep is it? Being on legs presumably plants can't root through the bottom into the soil below.

Yeah I wondered this. The bed is deep but no it wouldn't be able to root into the ground. That's ok can leave that one out!

Agh so exciting!! Yes I had thought of agapanthus but as my bed is already waist height ish I wondered if they'd be too tall!