September marks the end of summer bedding plants and the time to re-plan your planter arrangements, providing colour throughout autumn, winter and spring. There’s a range of autumn bedding plants to create a delightful display of colour and texture throughout the winter months.
Wallflowers & Tulips - Easy bedding plants that look great together
Creating a delicate yellow flowering display, Wallflower ‘Sugar Rush Primrose’ provides a plethora of upright flower heads in the spring. Planting them in the autumn with tulip bulbs will bless you with an eye-popping spring display.
Ideal for containers or planting in a border, this planting combo is popular with professional gardeners as it enthuses a country cottage-style appeal within an urban garden setting. Tulip ‘Calgary,’ Tulip ‘Queen of the night’ and Tulip ‘Purple Doll’ wallflowers will bloom before and after Tulips, prolonging the seasonal garden display. Wallflowers are available in a range of zesty yellows, purples, pinks and whites.
Illuminating planting schemes
Are you keen on bold-coloured planting schemes? Erysimum cheiri ‘Scarlet Bedder’ is an illuminating bright scarlet red scented wallflower that blooms for an extended period in spring. This variety can also be used in beds and containers. Plant Tulips such as Tulip Orca or Tulip Labrador for a bold display of contrasting colours throughout spring.
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Wallflower colour |
Tulip to plant with Boma’s range of premixed bulbs |
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Wallflower - Mixed Bedder |
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Wallflower - Gold Bedder |
Erysimum’ Winter Sorbet’ and Calluna vulgaris Twin Girls
To create a fabulous winter container, plant a wall flower (Erysimum) in the centre as a focal plant and plant around this with winter flowering Heather (Calluna). Plant breeding has come a long way in producing new hybrid wall flowers that bloom for extended periods. Varieties such as Winter Sorbet will flower from March until the end of summer. Deadhead throughout summer to ensure continuous blooms. Winter Sorbet is a heavily scented variety, ideal for enjoying its wonderful aroma near an entrance.
Forget-me-knots and Tulips
Myosotis sylvatica (Forget-me-knots) are a fantastic biennial plant providing a carpet of blue flowers in spring. To enhance the display, feature them with an alternating display with tulips in a garden block that will pierce a sea of blue in April and May. Stunning varieties against the sea of blue include Tulip’ Friendship’. Tulip’ Angels Wish’ or Tulip’ Antraciet’.
Calluna vulg. ‘Beauty Ladies'® trio
This variety of colours offers three different colours in the same pot. It is ideal for providing months of colour from Autumn into spring. As the young plants knit together in a container, they give the illusion of three different coloured flowers coming from the same plant. Always plant heathers in Ericaceous compost. These acid-loving plants have been bred from the original highland wild heather you see growing in the moors in Scotland and Ireland. These Heathers can also be used as ground cover in planted beds and borders.
Violas and Tulips
Plant a sea of violas from Autumn with Tulips planted in-between to create a sea of colour from winter into spring. Plant Violas in blocks of one colour with one coloured Tulip for maximum effect. The range of festive favourite violas will flower from late Autumn into spring.
See below a table of Viola varieties matched with a colour of Tulip to use
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Variety of viola |
Variety of Tulip |
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Violet Blue |
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Orange with Purple Wing |
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White Purple Wing |
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Sorbet Lemon Blueberry Swirl |
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Honeybee |
Primrose and Narcissus
Primroses are adored for their brightly coloured flowers, with highly perfumed named varieties. They can be planted in Autumn and throughout the winter and spring seasons with Narcissus bulbs to create a fantastic display or bright retina-burning colour. Narcissus is available in a range of zesty citrus yellows and pure white.
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Primrose colour |
Narcissus varieties |
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White with yellow eye |
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Blue with yellow and white eye |
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Pastel blue with yellow eye |
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Pastel pink with yellow eye |
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Orange with red tips |
Cineraria maritima and Calocephalus brownii’ Silver Wire.’
Both Cineraria and Calocephalus are two silvered leave bedding plants valued for their use as accent plants in the garden. Both are suitable for containers or planting in the round interest and structure. Cineraria has broad foliage, and Calocephalus has wiry intricate foliage. These two bedding plants are ideal for displays with pastel planting colour schemes.
Cyclamen hederifolium and Violas
Although technically a perennial in the garden, we often treat Cyclamen Hederifolium as a bedding plant and plant it with flowering annuals. This variety of Cyclamen has ivy-like silver foliage and delicate pink flame-like flowers. It looks stunning when planted with small flowering Violas that flower from Autumn into spring. Plant in a container with adequate drainage and grit as Cyclamen hate sitting in water. Deadhead both Violas and Cyclamen to encourage continuous blooms.
Cyclamen ‘Verano Purple’ and Leucojum aestivum
Cyclamen ‘Verano Purple’ and Leucojum can be planted in Autumn to create an elegant, beautiful spring display. Cyclamen’ Verano Purple’ will spread and create a sea of heart-shaped silvery green foliage from which small delicate purple flame flowers appear in spring. If you plant Leucojum bulbs in Autumn simultaneously, these will blossom above the height of the Cyclamen flowers in spring. Leucojum, commonly known as Snowflake, will bloom in early spring and has large nodding white flowers.
Pansies and Cyclamen’ Compact Light Pink’
If you want to create a brightly coloured container for Autumn and winter interest, plant bedding Cyclamen and giant flowered pansies together. These will flower from as early as September all the way until January. Cyclamen Compact Light Pink has large, brightly coloured pink flame flowers. Pansies are available in various colours, from Purples and Blues, Reds and Pinks to Yellows and whites.
Erica gracilis and ornamental chilles
For an unforgettable autumn planter, try mixing Ornamental Chillies and Erica gracilis. The bright coloured chilli heads and the gently pink blooms of Erica contrast and will last throughout autumn/ winter and into spring.
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Boma Chilli varieties |
Pots size |
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Capsicum annuum 'Acapulco Red' |
P17cm |
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Capsicum annuum’ Acapulco Purple.’ |
P17cm |
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Capsicum annuum’ Salsa Red.’ |
P10.5cm |
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Capsicum annuum’ Salsa Yellow.’ |
P10.5cm |
Tubs and basket Plants
Autumn is the time to get creative with plants for tubs and baskets. Easy, colourful, young potted plants form hardy shrubs with the proper care. Starting with 11cm pots, these shrubs will flourish throughout the winter and spring. September is the time to start, and garden centres such as Boma stock an extensive range of ready-to-plant low-cost colourful combinations for creating gorgeous displays.
These perennial shrubs are of excellent value, with plants returning yearly, including Ajuga’ Burgundy Glow’, Ajuga’ Braunherz’, Athyrium filix-femina ‘Frizelliae’, Carex’ Frosted Curls’, Carex’ Ice Dance’, Cordyline Australis, Cupressus macrocarpa ‘Goldcrest’, Euonymus’ Emerald Gaiety’, Euonymus’ Emerald and Gold’, Heuchera’ Melting Fire’, Heuchera’ Palace Purple’ and Lamium maculatum’ Beacon Silver’.
Erica darleyensis and Heuchera
Create a show-stopping display of flowers and foliage by mixing Heucheras and Ericas.
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Erica darl. ‘White Perfection’ |
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Erica darl. ‘Kramer’s Red’ |
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Erica darl. ‘Darley Dale’ |
Cyclamen and Brassica
For a funky display, try planting ornamental Brassicas with Cyclamens. The Brassicas will provide bold foliage colour that contrasts brilliantly with Cyclamen’s flame-like flowers.
Varieties of Cyclamen and brassica we have in stock:
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Cyclamen |
Brassica |
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Brassica Smooth White |
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Brassica Smooth Purple |
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To appreciate the full glory of colourful autumn plants, pop into Boma Garden Centre, Kentish Town, and chat with the team for creative planting ideas. Alternatively, shop online with nationwide delivery.
