Gardening radio show Fact sheet 8th April

Border & container plants for instant colour.

April is the ideal time to focus on providing lots of summer colour on your Patio, in containers or in borders and existing beds.

Mimulus or Musk flower.

For instant colour now look for the beautiful low growing Mimulus or Musk flower, it is available in mixed vivid colours and is frost hardy allowing you to plant it now directly into flower borders, containers or gravel beds for long lasting colour from now to Mid Summer.

I planted mimulus into a gravel drive way last April where it flourished and flowered right through to late summer, this spring it has spread nicely forming good sized clumps and will provide a riot of colour from Mid April onwards.

Mimulus is easy to grow, grows in all soil types and needs very little care. It can be divided and spread to other areas in the garden where it will form clumps of vivid colour this summer.

Senetii – Beautiful large vivid colour.

Another great border or patio container plant is called Senetii – Beautiful vivid colours in rich blue, vivid purple, sparkling pink and pure white. Senetii is very free flowering, producing masses of large daisy like flowers from now until early winter. Senetii is best planted in a sunny location in a large pot or flower border where it will reward you with lots of stunning colour from April until early winter. This is a border plant I certainly recommend you plant this spring for lots of great colour in your garden this summer.

Osteospernums or Sunnies.

A great favourite of mine are the beautiful sunnies, they have just come into flower and are available in Purple, pinks, bright yellow, white and two tones. Sunnies flower from now to early winter and are ideal for planting in rockeries, gravel beds, flower borders and brilliant in containers. Sunnies are low growing and very compact producing a strong show of colour all season long.

They are easy to grow and love to be planted in a bright sunny location maybe on a patio or in pots at your front door.

Sunnies can be planted on there own, three or five in a group, to give a strong bold show of colour or inter planted with other summer flowering border plants.

Star of Bethlehem – Campanula blue & white.

Star of Bethlehem is a low growing spreading border or container plant; it has just come into flower producing star shaped flowers on mass. A lovely free flowering border plant that produces masses of colour from April onwards.

Star of Bethlehem is available in blue or white and is frost hardy so it can be planted out of doors in borders, rockeries, patio containers and gravel beds.

Lovely free flowering plant to reward you with colour this and every summer.

Turbo Pansies. Large flowers in mixed colours.

Turbo pansies are one of the best free flowering spring and summer border plants. They again have just come into flower producing large brightly coloured blooms and are ideal for flower borders, patio containers or for just adding a splash of colour to existing flower and shrub beds.

Turbo pansies are hardy, will grow in all soil types and flower for a very long period. Plant them now for a great show of colour in your garden.

Sweet Pea – Basket varieties.

Everybody loves Sweet Peas with their frilly flowers that both look and smell divine. Sweet peas are easy to grow, very free flowering and many varieties are richly scented.

This season look for the basket varieties which are ideal for planting into hanging baskets and containers and will flower all summer long.

Plant six or eight sweet pea clumps into your baskets or containers for a super splash of colour and scent this summer. Sweet peas can be planted out of doors now.

Colour for your hanging baskets and patio planters.

Bacopa Snowflake. White dainty flowers

Bacopa snowflake has pure white flowers, which contrasts with the darker green foliage. Bacopa is a brilliant summer flowering trailing plant quite at home in a mixed hanging basket or planted on its own to give a ball of bright colour – a wonderful contrast to louder colours or more vigorous trailing plants. It’s equally at home trailing out over window boxes or patio tubs. Bacopa snowflake loves our damper climate and tends to do very well in our damper summer climate.

Another favourite of mine is the free flowering but exquisite Swan River daisy or brachycome. This plant has been used for summer colour over the past number of years and continues to give lots of colour until late autumn. Again a great plant in baskets, patio planters and window boxes. It makes a lovely contrast to other plants. Plant it now in mixed baskets to reward you with good colour and interest this summer

Trailing Petunias – old favourites.

Petunia surfinia always gives a good performance now available in a range of new colours, some with great scent like Petunia Priscilla; it gives an abundance of purple flowers throughout the summer.

I particularly like the very dark blue or navy variety, the colour is very rich and makes a wonderful contrast when mixed with the yellow flowering bidens. Simply plant up four deep blue or navy petunias with two yellow bidens and enjoy a wonderful contrast of colours all summer.

Trailing petunias are now available in a wide selection of colours and varieties; you can simply plant your baskets with all the one variety for a blaze of uniform colour or mix some contrasting colours.

They are vigorous so feed them every week with Algoflash and water well.

Horkys tip: This year plant your basket with six of the one variety of plant to create a uniform blast of colour. I recommend Petunia Purple as a free flowering trailing variety for a great show of colour.

Million Bells. – Mini trailing petunias.

Petunia million bells was a winner last year with a huge cluster of flowers all summer long. The stems trailed nicely over the baskets another great plant to plant on its own, eight in a fourteen inch basket,

Petunia million bells are available in red, blue, yellow and pink. They again are easy to grow, very free flowering and ideal for all hanging baskets, window boxes and patio containers.

Gardening Tips for this coming week.

1. Mid April is the ideal time to plant vegetable and herb plants in your garden – I recommend cabbage Hispi and golden cross – great flavoured cabbage, nice sized heads.

2. Plant great onions this summer – choose the variety called Turbo to give large full flavoured onions this summer – Turbo is resistant to bolting and is a great cropper

3. Fill empty gaps in shrub borders and beds by sowing lavatera Parade Mixed seeds directly onto the soil – rake in lightly and enjoy a splash of great summer colour this season. Lavatera Parade Mixed is from Mr fothergill’s range. Lavatera is easy to grow and very free flowering.

4. Keep your rose beds free from weeds this summer by applying a dressing of easyweed around the base of the roses -–Easy weed kills existing weeds and prevents new weed growth.

5. For spring and summer colour plant a selection of easy to grow alpines – alpines offer you a wide choice of flowering border plants perfect for rockeries, borders and containers and remember that alpines flower every year. Look for Blue Aubrietia, Campanula, pink dianthus, & white Arabis.

6. Its time to plant new border roses – prepare the soil by adding Westland organic compost and by adding organic blood fish and bone meal – plant free flowering border roses like the beautiful collection of David Austin Roses bred for scent and repeat flowering ability.

7. Feed your lawn now with Easy green 3 in 1 lawn fertiliser, easy green kills your existing moss, kills lawn weeds and greens your lawn without forcing growth – apply easy green lawn feed now

8. You can grow great tasting lettuce this summer by planting Saladin iceberg lettuce plants Saladin gives you great tasting lettuce all summer. Plant lettuce little and often to give fresh pickings all summer long.

9. Plant tomato plants now for a great crop of home grown tasty tomatoes, look for varieties like Gardeners delight, tumbler and Shirley. Pot the young plants into Supergrow compost, which is full of slow released nutrition – perfect for home grown tasty tomatoes.

10. Remember April is the perfect month to plant sweet flavoured blueberries – plant five to six plants to reward your with great tasting fruit, Blueberries are easy to grow and crop reliably year after year.

11. Re stock your garden pond with fresh Oxygenating and flowering pond plants. Outdoor pond fish can be added to your existing pond for effect.