What can I plant here now? I want colour and interest.

swingaloo

I have had raised beds put around the sides of my garden and planted them out in spring, They looked great with the bedding plants and as on one side there is  a fence behind them I have planted a Jasmine which is doing really well and trailing across the fence.

I have now had another side of the garden done to match but this part has no fence behind it so I cant put anything which requires fence support in this one. There is a small wall behind but this is only about a foot higher than the bed.

It is about 14 ft long by 20 inches wide. I want to put something in it now rather than wait for spring but as we are getting to the back end of the summer and I know very little about gardening I dont have a clue what to buy. It is in full sun all day (when we get some!).

I would like it to be colourful and a mix of flowers and small shrubs and something which will survive the winter and be ok for next year. Can anyone recommend what I should be trying please?

Misslayed

How about heucheras? They come in an amazing variety of colours (the leaves), and are quite hardy, perennial and evergreen . I have several - from lime green to vibrant reddish brown, purple and almost black. 

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/heuchera

swingaloo

Misslayed said:

How about heucheras? They come in an amazing variety of colours (the leaves), and are quite hardy, perennial and evergreen . I have several - from lime green to vibrant reddish brown, purple and almost black. 

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/heuchera

Thank you for the reply.  I do like those. I did buy 3 of those a couple of years ago when we moved into this house and had them planted at the base of a minature apple tree in the garden. I have no idea what happened to them being a useless gardener. I know one went all black and died but the other 2 I think may have been destroyed/eaten by something. They were lovely when I put them in though.
I think I will try some of those with some autumn violas I saw in the garden centre. Thank you.

Farway

How about hardy geraniums, AKA cranesbills?

As title, hardy, flower readily, easy care, loves sunshine & a bit of dry and general all round "doer" in most places

https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-plants/how-to-grow-hardy-geraniums/

swingaloo

Farway said:

How about hardy geraniums, AKA cranesbills?

As title, hardy, flower readily, easy care, loves sunshine & a bit of dry and general all round "doer" in most places

https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-plants/how-to-grow-hardy-geraniums/

Thank you, those are pretty. I just spent an hour and a half pushing a trolley round the garden centre in the rain. Found a few things I liked but can never make a snappy decision, I found a lovely plant, tall with almost black leaves which would have been nice for some height at the back and a pretty light green grass but pushing a trolley, holding a brolly and trying to read the labels on the plants which were wet through, wearing glasses I couldnt see through for rain was not a good experience so I came home with nothing.

Working_Mum

Have you thought about getting a couple obelisks and grow a clematis or something up it? It'd give you some height and extra interest in the raised bed.

For winter colour you can't go wrong with hellebore and cyclamen.

If I have an issue which needs solving in my garden I tend to ask Google and then click through the images until I find something I like the look of. Once I've been inspired I then start to look at the "how" to make it reality in my garden and then I start to go to garden centres or online (or if I'm lucky Freecycl3 will have what I need).

Good luck with your project   

KittenChops

I'm a big fan of rudbeckias - they're summer/autumn flowering.  I usually do some from seed most years but these tend to be labeled as half hardy perennials - for me, they will over-winter ok in pots but not if they're in the ground (I live in the Midlands but moved from the south east nearly 2 years ago & had more or less the same experience with them there).  I've also bought some varieties (plants not seeds) which are fully hardy - I have a goldsturm (which I'm not mad keen on as I think it looks a little 'weedy') & at least one more which I can't name without going up to the shed & finding the label!).  I like them because they fit with my colour scheme ('jewel garden', so bright vibrant colours, no whites or pastels) & other than deadheading, I don't really do anything with them.
I also really like heleniums (yellows, oranges, reds) - and again, nothing much to do other than deadheading.

As Farway said, hardy geraniums are excellent doers.
As Misslayed said, heucheras are great too (note to self, must get some!)

In our old garden I used to have a physocarpus (must also get one of them for this garden!) - I had a 'diabolo d'or' & a 'midnight' variety - more of a shrub (deciduous) so a bit of height at the back of the border - more grown for the foliage although the flowers are great for pollinators
I have verbena bonariensis - love this, as do the pollinators
I have some fennel - think tall & wispy, it's another umbellifer so loved by pollinators
I have some geums - 'totally tangerine' is loving our garden & has been in flower since early March

My top tip, regardless of what you like, is go to a local nursery rather than a garden centre - they don't normally have quite as much variety as garden centres but they are so much cheaper (most garden centres buy their plants from nurseries)

swingaloo

Thank you so much for all the tips, especially about going to a nursery rather than garden centre. So much choice. On the other side of my garden I bought some Cineraria Silver Dust plants as I though they would add interest. . That raised bed is L shaped so I put one in the corner of the L and one in the middle of each run and one at each end. Thought it looked really pretty when I did it but they have grown so big they are obliterating everything else. 
Can I take a couple up and put them in the new beds or will it kill them?

KittenChops

swingaloo said:

Thank you so much for all the tips, especially about going to a nursery rather than garden centre. So much choice. On the other side of my garden I bought some Cineraria Silver Dust plants as I though they would add interest. . That raised bed is L shaped so I put one in the corner of the L and one in the middle of each run and one at each end. Thought it looked really pretty when I did it but they have grown so big they are obliterating everything else. 
Can I take a couple up and put them in the new beds or will it kill them?

If it was me, I'd risk it (you're not happy with how they look where they are so why not)
Just keep the newly transplanted plants well watered until they get established.
PS - they are easy to do from seed if you want more next year