CK wrote:
Dear All,

Just come back from my elderly parents-in-law who are living near
Liverpool. As my father-in-law has cancer and cannot help my
mother-in-law with the housework, she has no time for gardening. Each time
we visit them, we would help them with gardening and heavy
housework.
It will be their Diamond wedding anniversary in late May. When we
were considering what type of present we should give them, my
mother-in-law said she would like us to put some annual in her
bedding and pots in the east-facing front garden, to bring it back in
colour.
There is a 4' evergreen hedge to define the front garden from the
pavement. Inside, a number of Lily-of-the -valley have settled
themselves very well. There is also a small evergreen tree at the
corner while there is a 7' wall with climber on the south. There is
a 15" wide raised bedding running from NE to SW joining the two ends
of the hedge and the wall, where is the place we were asked to design
the planting. There are already some graph hyacinth, tulips and
daffodil which were planted on 1st Jan 2004. However, there is still
a length of 6' which is rather bare.
The location is dapped to partial shaded, can be a bit windy. The
soil is mainly loam, well-drained. My mother-in-law would like to
have some annual bedding plants. We also need to plant a hanging
basket handing outside the front door, east-facing of course. There
is now a pot of naturism from last year next to the door with a
trellis hanging on the wall. There are also three pots with the size
about 12" on the path walking from the front gate to the front door. As my
parents-in-law are in their 80s. It would be better if I can
get them some low-maintenance bedding/container plants which will
flower from mid-May onwards.
I had tried to search the RHS database but only six plants were shown
and only one has fragrance. It seems that Borage is one of the
choices. Could anyone suggest some other bedding plant which will
flower in late May?
Is it too late to sow seeds now? Should I order some plug plants?

Any suggestion will be read with appreciation.

With regards,
CK from Aberystwyth

"A pot of naturism", eh? Now *that* I would pay to see! ;o) eg

--
In memory of MS MVP Alex Nichol: http://www.dts-l.org/