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

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/

Hi Miss Tick,

Wrong spelling check, should be nasturtium. Too tired after a whole busy
day.

Happy Easter!

With regards,
CK

"Miss Perspicacia Tick" wrote in message
...

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

It seems it is difficult to find suitable plants. I went to a local nursery
and asked the gardener, all the plants available are perennials. I had
emailed T&M, and at least I got the following suggestion:

================================
Busy Lizzie's and Petunias make ideal bedding plants that will flower
prolifically all summer long. Petunias would require deadheading to prolong
their flowering period though. You might also like to consider Marigold,
Nemesia, Verbena, Begonias and Cascading Balcon Geraniums, all of which
would look good in pots and baskets, perhaps interplanted with trailing
Lobelia, again all would need deadheading to prolong their flowering time.
Feeding and watering would also have to be taken into consideration to get
the best out of your plants...

All plants will require a degree of care and attention, especially when they
are grown in baskets and containers as these will dry out very quickly
during hot dry weather, even in wet weather they would still require
watering, as the rain would not be able to penetrate through the growth of
plants to significantly water the growing medium. SwellGel would be an
advantage but watering would still be necessary during hot, dry periods.

....

An alternative might be to check with your local nursery or garden supply
outlet, who would supply smaller quantities of plants, but these would still
require some protection from frosts before planting directly into the
garden.
================================
I am rather impressed that in addition to the list of plants, they had
suggested me to go to my local nursery, even they might not able to get my
MONEY!!!

Too early to praise on the services of T&M, I had sent further email
enquiring if I order those young plants which stated would arrive in April,
whether I could get them on time. No answer arrived even more than a week.
I think it might be difficult for the consultant to answer as she could not
say 'Yes' as she was not sure, but if she answered 'No', she might get into
trouble when the company found out.

Maybe the best way would be like her suggestion, going to some local garden
centres at the end of April or early May and see what I can find.