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Is it too late to plant summer bedding

Elizabeth225Elizabeth225 Posts: 96
in Problem solving
Hi everyone,I’m looking to put a bit of colour in my garden as most of my bushes & plants, are late spring & early summer flowering,apart from my Summer Clematis which are growing up walls,there’s plenty of greenery but not much colour,I have a few gaps in my borders so thought of getting some summer bedding like Geraniums, What I would like to know is,is it too late in the season to do this? or would it be ok,as I’ve heard that geraniums flower until late Autumn. Would be grateful for anyone’s advice,as I am a bit of a novice gardener so don’t want to do the wrong thing.Thank you.

Posts

  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,007
    Copied response from the potentilla thread:

    There are some geraniums - Rozanne being the best known and also one of the largest - that are still flowering strongly now and yes you could add them. I wouldn't call them bedding plants. Maybe you mean pelargoniums? You can plant any of these now provided that your soil is loose enough to get a trowel in it (mine isn't) and you have the facility and time to keep them well watered. Any type of plant going in now (in the UK) will really struggle because the ground is so dry.

    It might be better to take note of the gaps now and in the autumn plant some summer flowering perennials so that next year you have more continuity of colour
    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • Elizabeth225Elizabeth225 Posts: 96
    Thank you for your good advice raisingirl,my soil is clay but I have added quite a lot of topsoil to it last year so it is quite loose, & I am retired now so have the time to keep on top of it. Think I may have a go at the Roxanne Geranium you suggested & see how it goes,thank you again, Elizabeth.
  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,007
    Just be aware she gets really big - mine is over 1m across and I keep splitting it. There's one called 'Azure Rush' which is I think a much smaller version of the same plant. Unless you have quite a lot of room, maybe have a look for that one instead.
    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,669
    Yes I also thought Pelargoniums, lots of garden centres are selling stuff of cheaply now, summer bedding, the hardy geraniums have mostly flowered for this year.
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