The Bright Stuff
Hardy and bold-hued, these flowers will bring garden delight this summer.
A CHILLI SUMMER For a summertime blaze that’s both ornamental and edible, try compact bird’s eye chilli. With fruits shading from cream to purple, green and red, it makes an ideal potted bush.
1 CALIBRACHOA
Despite the tricky botanical name (it’s pronounced kal-ee-brack-o-a), these petunia relatives are some of the most colourful and trouble-free bloomers around, flowering profusely for up to nine months of the year. Spreading twice as wide as their 20cm height, they work brilliantly in hanging baskets or spilling over the edge of large tubs. They’re available in a beautiful array of colours, from cream and yellows to pinks, mauves, purples and reds, as well as flamboyant multicoloured mixes. Check out the gorgeous shades in the popular Million Bells and Superbells series.
2 PORTULACA
Their succulent leaves tell you instantly that these ground-covering plants are drought-tough heroes. They will thrive happily in dry, hot and coastal conditions, producing their dazzling flowers during all the warm months. Colour choices cover the spectrum from clear yellows through tangerines to pinks and crimsons, many with an iridescent glow. Use them to underplant shrubs in tubs or trail them attractively over the rim of wall pots. Outstanding options include the Sun Jewels, Pazzaz and
Hot Spots series.
3 SUMMERINA COLLECTION
This cross between two popular plants, perennial Echinacea and annual Rudbeckia, combines the best of both to produce a high-impact, long-flowering and robust plant with a height and spread of 60cm. The large, sturdy flowers are long-lasting, creating a vibrant display from late spring through autumn. They’re ideal for pots and make beautiful cut flowers. ‘Sunshine’ (pictured) is gold with an orange centre, ‘Sunflare’ displays burnt orange tones and ‘Twilight’ features delightful shades of coppery red and burnt bronze.
4 NEW GUINEA IMPATIENS
Unlike shade-loving common impatiens (also known as busy lizzy), these handsome New Guinea varieties love sun and heat, as long as they have water. They’re also colourful options for partly shaded spots. The pointed leaves can be green, bronze or splashed with yellow, forming a mounded plant with fleshy stems to about 60cm high. Flowers range from white through pinks to magenta, plus mauve, coral, orange and red; there are even some bicolours. They flower profusely from spring through autumn, in beds, pots or windowboxes.
5 COREOPSIS
These sunny, daisy-like flowers used to be just yellow annuals that flourished as weeds along railways and roadsides, but selective breeding has made them garden-worthy favourites. Hybrids such as ‘Mango Punch’ (pictured), ‘Salsa’, ‘Jive’ and ‘Mambo’ are neater, more compact perennials that regrow each spring, bearing large flowers on slender stems. Colours now include yellow, pink, copper, burgundy, white and bicolours. They’re still easy to grow and, as a bonus, will attract butterflies to your garden. Plant them in pots or as drifts in garden beds.