Summer colour time

Come rain or shine nothing gets the garden looking better than a spot of colour.

If you have a pot full of colour on the patio or at the front door it catches the eye and creates a happy spot which is easier to manage with a watering can and still look great.

Not all bedding plants need a lot of water and here’s our list of tough summer favourites.

Nothing quite compares to colour in the garden.

Colour outside sets the mood similarly to how it would indoors and with clothing trends but with the big difference, being that colour in the garden is alive.

Flowers and foliage colour can add energy to a space and can also be used to calm an area down or to even make one feel cool and relaxed.

In modern small gardens the latest trends are back to mixed colours instead of mass plantings of one colour.

With small gardens the flowers are close to the viewer and without many different areas in the garden a mix makes all the difference in variation.

That does not mean that it goes against the mood of the garden but is rather a personal mix of two or three colours that either complement each other or show each other off.

Petunias

Petunias thrive in the long, hot southern African summer.

Petunias thrive in a relatively dry, hot spot and are available in a range of colours from pink through to purple, red and even a pink and yellow bicolour which is all the rage with fashion-conscious gardeners.

Look out for the new black flowering and yellow-and-black-striped hybrids now available.

Petunias have a cascading habit and will trail over the edge of a container. The newest variety, Petunia Night Sky, is a multi-speckled purple and no two flowers are ever identical.

It is important to note that they must dry out between watering.

Marigolds

Marigolds have been the gardener’s answer to summer colour for many generations.

Their long-lasting flowers come in sunshine colours of lemon and yellow, gold, orange and coppery-red; some with few petals, while others have full, rounded blooms.

Dwarf marigolds are ideal for borders and brightening containers and hanging baskets.

Marigolds are also useful for growing between vegetables, where they are a deterrent to nematodes in the soil and naturally keep aphids at bay as companion plants.

Portulaca

These tough little plants thrive in our hot conditions.

Portulaca, commonly known as moss roses, take the heat better than most – in fact, the hotter it gets, the better they like it.

Indigenous to southern Africa with bright single or double flowers, they bloom freely in all colours.

Fairly low growing, they make ideal flowerbed and hanging basket fillers, growing well in poor, sandy or gravelly soils, as long as it drains well. Most importantly, they need a sunny home.

Dianthus

Dianthus will thrive in heat and when the rains come they don’t mind either.

These charmers have green or blue-green leaves and white, pink, cherry, scarlet, strawberry or violet flowers.

They are wonderful subjects for pots or planted in clusters along pathways and in the front of borders.

Dianthus is a one-drop plant which means that they are extremely drought hardy.

Grow dianthus in well-drained composted soil in a sunny position. Dead-head frequently to prolong flowering.

Salvia

Flowering in full sun to semi-shade, the dramatic saliva are incredible value for money.

Salvia come in a range of colours, not only the traditional red but now the white, salmon and purple tones have extended the range.

Extremely water wise and hardy, they flower until the first frost next winter – incredible value for money.

We know that once you have grown a bed of salvia you will do so every year.

When planting them add some BioGanic to the soil to boost their early growth and also consider putting down some cutworm bait just to prevent any casualties.

Information supplied by Eckards.