Which plants are best for all year round colour?

daisykate124

Ive just dug out a border in my front garden and want to buy some nice shrubs and plants that will be low maintence and colourfull. Which is the best ones to buy?

wigginsmum

For something lowgrowing I'd opt for pansies - they're cheerful, low maintenance (cut them down when they've finished flowering, and they soon flower again), and you can get varieties that flower nearly all year round.

Other than that, go for something that has winter interest too - maybe a colourful stem like red stem dogwood.

beccatt

We've got a gorgeous red stemmed Acer (think it's also called a japanese maple?) - it is a nice leafy tree in summer but in winter it has vivid red bark that amazes everyone! I think as long as you keep chopping it back each year it stays a manageable size.

never_enough

Depends on your soil, amount of sun & what you're looking for but if you want year round interest then evergreens are useful.

Lavender is always nice, silvery green foliage & of course lovely smelling. If you want something fancy then French lavender looks pretty good & you can get it in white . You can keep it quite low & can be grown into an informal hedge. Good planted around roses, helps keep aphids off them.
Rosemary, has pretty mauve flowers. can also be grown as as a hedge.
Sweet box, lovely smelling winter flowering.
Mahonia, yellow flowers, smells nice, winter flowering.
Photinia, lovely red leaves, white flowers in spring. Can grow 5metres plus but easy to cut back.
Californian lilac. I have one with honeysuckle growing through it in my front garden.
Switch ivy looks lovely but it needs an acid soil.
Roses, especially the old fashioned lovely smelling ones. You can get pretty much any colour, but I recommend Margaret Merrill (white) & Falstaff (reddy/purple).
Ground cover plants are useful to keep weeding to a minimum & also stop the soil drying out. Japenese spurge is good, white flowers, early summer. Periwinkles come in various colors, white, purple, lilac. Also good are cyclamen, heuchera (?sp), campanulas.