If you’re new to gardening, it can get a little overwhelming as to which plants are what and what each plant type has to offer. With the Primrose blog, you don’t need to worry any longer because we have a wide range of informative guides to help you get started. In this ‘What Are Bedding Plants?’ guide, discover everything you need to know from popular choices of bedding plants to the benefits of including them in your garden.
What are bedding plants?
Bedding plants are fast growing plants that are typically planted into flower beds and borders to create impactful, colourful displays that are temporary. Bedding can be grown from seed, bought as young seedlings (plug plants), or purchased as pot grown specimens such as cellular trays and multipacks.
How long do bedding plants last?
Plants used for bedding tend to be annuals, biennials or tender perennials. However, most are annuals which means they usually grow and flower in one year. There are summer varieties and hardy winter bedding plants, meaning you can have colour all year round if you alternate your planting between the two.
What are the most popular bedding plants?
There’s plenty of popular plants to choose from at Primrose. Browse several varieties from traditional favourites such as Geraniums, Petunias and Pansies to cottage garden favourites like Cosmos and Sweet Peas.
To find our full top ten list of the most popular, visit our Top 10 Bedding Plants For Your Garden guide.
What time of year should you buy bedding?
Bedding plants are often available to buy from March onwards for summer, but it’s important to hold off planting them until all chances of frost have passed. You’ll find winter bedding available to purchase in the autumn months from September onwards.
How to care for bedding plants
Once planted you’ll want to keep the plants blooming for as long as possible. To do this, make sure you keep on top of deadheading. When the plants are at their optimum in summer, you may need to deadhead them a couple of times per week.
To deadhead, locate any dead flowers on the plant, gently pinch them off with your finger and your thumb or if the stems are thicker (depending on the variety), use a pair of garden scissors to gently snip the spent flower off. If you forget to deadhead your plant, it will eventually stop flowering altogether so this step is really important to prolong its flowering period.
Some varieties are adored by slugs, which isn’t great news for us gardeners! If you struggle with slugs in your garden, you may want to avoid the following varieties that are known to be enjoyed by them:
- French Marigolds
- Petunias
- Bizzie Lizzies
- Verbena
- Pansies
However, picking these slug-loved favourites does have its benefits too. Not only are they stunning, but if you’re growing your own, you should consider using them in companion planting. Companion planting is a good idea if you want to avoid your crops getting munched by pests, aid natural pollination, and prevent disease. For example, Marigolds make a wonderful companion plant for tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, herbs and more!
Of course, you don’t have to accept defeat either. There are plenty of slug repellents available to keep the numbers down. If your plant hasn’t been too badly affected, then it’s still possible to save it too.
If you’re looking to swap for stronger varieties, the plants that are more slug resistant are:
When is bedding in season?
There is bedding for Spring/Summer and for Autumn/Winter. Summer bedding should be planted out in May to June when all chances of frost have passed. Once your summer bedding plants have passed and gone over, you can replace them in September to October time with winter bedding. By alternating your flower beds between summer and winter, you’ll have fresh colour all year round!