Bedding Plants

More About Bedding Plants

Choosing the Best Bedding Plants for Your Garden

Start by thinking about where your bedding plants will grow. Sun-loving varieties such as geraniums and gazanias thrive in bright positions, while Busy Lizzies and begonias perform brilliantly in partial shade. Trailing bedding plants, including lobelia and petunias, are ideal for hanging baskets and patio tubs, offering cascades of colour all summer. Upright bedding plants like salvia, osteospermum and nemesia add structure and help create layered, professional-looking displays.

Many gardeners mix and match different bedding flowers to create long-season colour. Planting a blend of early, mid and late-summer performers ensures continuity, while fragrant options like dianthus bring scent into the mix. For gardeners wanting quick results, garden ready plants offer rapid establishment and are perfect for filling gaps. Hardy bedding plants can even extend displays into autumn and early winter, depending on the variety.

How to Plant and Care for Bedding Plants

For the best results, plant bedding flowers into well-drained compost enriched with slow-release feed. Water regularly, especially through warm, dry spells. Deadhead spent blooms to encourage an extended flowering period, and pinch back vigorous varieties early in the season to promote branching.
Bedding plants in containers benefit from frequent feeding with a liquid fertiliser, as nutrients wash through more quickly. In borders, mulching helps conserve moisture and keeps roots cool during summer. Most bedding plants will perform right through to autumn with consistent watering and occasional maintenance.

With so many varieties and colours to choose from, it is so simple to create stunning displays that brighten your garden for months. From quick seasonal refreshes to fully planted summer borders, bedding plants remain one of the most rewarding and cost-effective ways to add eye-catching colour to your outdoor space.