Starved for colour? Go bold and bright with these spring flowers…
Spring is around the corner! You can feel it in the air and the tingle in your fingertips, that says it is time to start planting. Away with the dusty brown shades of August. Go bold, bright and beautiful with spring flowers…and most of them are indigenous.
Some ideas!
The base colour in most gardens is green, which provides a great backdrop for a splash of colour here and there or if you want to go big.
- Plant up containers and use them as accents or focal points, to decorate a seating area or to provide pops of colour throughout the garden.
- Enhance a focal point, statue, birdbath or bench with a cluster planting of flowers around the feature.
- In larger gardens or on pavements, plant up bold displays by grouping flowers in blocks, stripes or swathes of colour.
- Line pathways with low growing flowers to lead the eye.
- Create a restful corner by weaving together flowers in soft, harmonious colours.
Nemesia Nesia is a hybrid of our indigenous nemesia and the striking colour range includes magenta, bright yellow, tangerine and bi-colours ‘Bananaberry’ ‘Tutti Frutti’ and ‘Fantasy Pink’. The large yet delicate blooms are lightly fragrant and are carried above the compact, upright growing plants that have shiny green leaves.
They are good in containers and look gorgeous massed as a border in garden beds or lining a pathway. They grow in semi shade.
Osteospermum (Cape Daisies) are at their showiest in spring and the ‘Sunset Shades’ of osteospermum Akila blend harmoniously to produce a bold display in pots or in landscapes. ‘Akila’ is a hybrid that is very compact, 40 to 50m high and wide. Containers of these eye catching blooms will introduce instant colour into the garden and provide visual anchors within a bed.
Good to know: Repetition of a single colour or a mix like ‘Sunset Shades’ throughout the garden produces a feeling of continuity.
Diascia ‘Diamond’ produces masses of delicate blooms that make a feature of hanging baskets and mixed containers. This neat, compact plant is also a good filler as a groundcover or as an edging plant, especially along pathways because it spills over, softening the hard edges.
One plant will fill a medium-sized hanging basket and three in a container or larger hanging basket. Plants do best with morning sun and need fertile, well composted soil that drains well. Regular watering will prevent flower drop and scruffy growth.
This spring flowering stoechas lavender ‘Primavera’ continues flowering well into summer, unlike other stoechas that taper off after spring.
‘Primavera’s large flower heads are a magnet for bees and butterflies. Plants are sturdy and bushy (40cm high and wide), and stand out when planted in mass, in groups or in a large container.
Plant in ordinary garden soil that drains well in full or partial sun. Water deeply and let the soil dry out moderately before watering again. Fertilise monthly and trim down by 50% after each flush to encourage fresh flowers.
Petunias are almost all-year-round flowers but they are at their best in spring. There are so many varieties to choose from but one of the easiest garden varieties is the ‘E 3 Easy Wave’ that grows fast, flowers continuously but doesn’t need dead heading or cutting back. They tolerate heat and cooler conditions and the weather resistant single blooms attract bees.
The mounded plants have a controlled spread of 60 to 80cm, making them suitable for small spaces. Like all other petunias, Easy Wave grows best in full sun, in well-drained soil. Fertilise regularly for a continual production of flowers throughout the season.
Content by: www.ballstraathof.co.za
Article and images by Alice Coetzee.
