Late summer plants for containers

Helen Ingman

Hello, I have come home to some very dead plants in my containers after returning from my holiday. Can someone recommend some plants that would brighten my garden from now til Autumn. Any advice would be appreciated for this novice gardener!

Thanks Helen

Mel M

Next year plant some bedding dahlia seeds or tubers. They flower from July until the first frosts, and once established tend to look after themselves - all you have to do is dead head twice a week. They are easy to grow and so long as you cut off the stems then lift them at the first frost and store them in dry soil or compost in a frost free area they can be replanted year after year. (You may have to split them after a couple of years - make sure each bunch of tubers has a piece of stem attached.) Here in Cornwall I leave mine in the ground over winter without any problems. 

hogweed

Helen, some pansies and an ornamental cabbage would do the trick cheaply for the next few months.

CraftyMarie

Pansies (as Hogweed said) and violas can be picked up pretty cheaply, you can get a lot for your money and they come in loads of colour choices.

I love them because they just flower and flower. I've had some in containers since the early spring, keep deadheading the flowers and even more grow back. If the stems grow too tall and leggy, they are easy to cut back down in size.

 

Helen Ingman

Thanks all. Will sort out this weekend.