Foxglove ‘Mixed’ from T&M

Plant foxgloves in the summer border
Image: Foxglove ‘Mixed’ from Thompson & Morgan

For a fresh take on traditional bedding plant displays, try these tall perennials at the back of your beds and borders. Pollinator friendly, long-lasting and easy to care for once established, these great value plants will provide effortless colour, structure and interest all summer long.

Penstemon plants

Penstemon 'Miniature Bells' from Thompson & Morgan

Penstemon are popular with pollinating insects too!
Image: Penstemon ‘Miniature Bells’ from Thompson & Morgan

The long-flowering performance of penstemon is just what’s needed for colourful beds. A star of Thompson & Morgan’s Spring Catalogue, Penstemon ‘Wedding Bells’ Mixed is rapidly becoming one of this summer’s must-have plants, thanks to its suggested new use as a ‘bedding penstemon’. Plants will keep blooming right up until the first frosts and are remarkably resilient and weather-tolerant. Additionally, penstemon plants won’t become blighted by rust, a disease which can spoil the appearance of snapdragons.

Plant a kaleidoscope of colours by mixing ‘Pensham Wedding Day’ with ‘Heavenly Blue’, or choose a ready-selected Nurseryman’s choice mixed collection for multi-coloured blooms.

Digitalis plants

Foxglove ‘Alba’ from Thompson & Morgan

Foxglove ‘Alba’ produces rare white blooms 
Image: Foxglove ‘Alba’ from Thompson & Morgan

In recent years, the quality of foxglove breeding has improved greatly. Hardy digitalis ‘Alba’ produces large white flower spikes at the beginning of the summer and thrives in shady areas of the garden. Try our award-winning ‘Illumination Pink’ and drought tolerant ‘Illumination Ruby Slippers’ if your garden typically experiences long periods of dry weather during the warmer months.

For lots of flowers throughout the entire summer, the pick of the bunch is digitalis ‘Dalmatian Mixed’. ‘Dalmatian’ sends up flower spikes in peach, purple and pink, producing plenty of secondary blooms once the main spike has faded. This impressively quick-to-flower variety can also be grown as an annual, ideal for summer bedding schemes.

Michael Perry, former T&M product development manager says, “In the UK, we sometimes get caught in a bit of a bedding ‘rut’, habitually planting up lacklustre marigolds which don’t really ever give us the display we hope for. But by thinking differently about what we plant, we can create easier-to-care for, longer-lasting, more robust bedding displays”.

For more information, head over to our bedding plant hub page to find our bedding specific growers’ guides and articles. Share your bedding display with us via our social channels, we love to hear from you!

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