A freshly planted border of annuals

'Planting for Colour - Annuals' - That was the title of my talk and demonstration last week in the latest RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) event at Abriachan.

Driveway annual border - Summer 2010

We looked at an annual border first.
This is the headland area near to the road and our aim is always to have a blaze of colour from July onwards. I reckon we have succeeded every one of the past 25 years to do that; sometimes the rain has damped the show and sometimes the sun has accelerated it.  All good fun and I wish I wish I wish I had taken a chronological record of things, but it is patchy.
In truth the border is becoming a bit of an annual and perennial mix, as over the years we have gradually planted some plants that have surprised us and become perennial and other edging plants are cheekily encroaching on to the plot.
Here are the principles I use:
* First and always, I plant three Scot’s Thistle, Onopordum acanthemum. This is for drama and the photo opportunities. Onopordum is a biennial, hence they will make a large silver rosette in this first year and then will shoot up to flower with their fabulous purple thistle heads next spring.

  * Then I think about colour and drama and reach for Dahlias. Each year I try a new variety and this year it is a red double called Murdoch. The others I use a lot are

o Arabian Nights - A tall rich red double.
o Moonfire - Apricot yellow single , ted centre; dark foliage
o Bishop of Llandaff - Vivid red double on dark foliage.
* Then height and strength. No staking here. I usually go for Nicotiana, the tobacco plants. My favourite is Nicotiana affinis, but just as good is Nicotiana sylvestris, which has whorls of white flowers. Avoid the dwarfed hybrids like Domino…no bottle.

* Then more tall and filling…and always I reach for Cosmos Sensation. Feathery foliage and substantial pink and purple flowers.  It also shoots away fast, I only like to weed that corner once before the foliage grows over.
* Then the middle height. To contrast and compliment the Dahlias, Rudbeckia bulks up and gives an excellent late show.
* Then at a lower height about 25cm, my favourite is annual barley grass Hordeum jubatum and Opium poppies,  imagine them dancing in the breeze.

* Calendula, ordinary Pot Marigold Orange King is excellent and weather proof. If it looks like yet another cool wet summer, I can guarantee a show with these.
* Covering the edges; White Bacopa , Bidens or Sanvitalia are excellent and I have used trailing Lobelia Sapphire. All good and pretty edge frills .
* Filling spaces …..And there always seems to be a few, Tagetes, Cornflower, Night scented stock. Lovely

I hope everyone walking up from the road will stop and stare, and enjoy that corner as much as I do.

To end, here are my best annuals to plant this summer of uncertain weather. …still time.
Sow in June plant out in July enjoy from late August to November and even Christmas.
1. Tagetes… long season and utterly reliable.
2. Cosmos Sensation…the others don’t cut the mustard
3. Rudbeckia.... I like the tall ones, give a long late seaso, try to find Irish Eyes
4. Pot Marigold... well fed this gives a great show.
5. Parsley…..yes curly leaf parsley, strictly a biennial, but it is the most vivid green you can get and a wonderful contrast to marigold orange.

MD Abriachan June 2012

Autumn Offers

With the first day of autumn upon us, we have managed to find time to get our Autumn Supplement for 2011 organised.
Every August I walk among our nursery standing grounds and choose out the plants that are looking great for our mail order supplement.
These plants are ones that I know will settle well when planted in autumn and give a great performance next year.
I like to offer plants that will bring your garden to life again as autumn sets in; there are Schizostylis and Kniphofia, Primroses and Thistles, ready now to settle into the warm soil.

ABRIACHAN NURSERIES AUTUMN SUPPLEMENT

I hope you find something to tempt you, and I hope the midges are not as bad in your garden as they are currently in ours.

An Imposing Imposter - Onopordum (The Scots' Thistle)

Each year we see the magnificent stems of Onopordum Acanthium rise from the silver over-wintering rosette.
We carefully position the young plants each year so that they are near to the driveway where people walk up to the nursery. Many photographs have been taken of visitors standing beside a 2 metre high "Scots' Thistle".

But is it an impostor? If so, it is a very handsome one.

The silver cottony leaves are fiercely toothed and grow quickly into flat silver rosette in the first summer. It stays that way over the winter and in spring it begins to build.  In June the silver stem rises, the mace like buds opening to a glorious purple thistle head.

It is also called Cotton Thistle and comes from Southern Europe & Asia, but believe me it looks magnificent growing in Scotland, and has long been naturalised and taken on the local accent.

Choose a sunny well drained spot and plant any time from April to August.

One for adventurous gardeners yes, but for beginners too, easy and satisfying.

It is our August 'Plant of the Month' at the nursery and available through our online catalogue.