Hardening Off Bedding Plants

Hardening Off Bedding Plants

About two weeks before you want to set out your bedding plants, they will need to be weaned off the cozy temperatures inside the greenhouse to the harsher environment outdoors. This is known as hardening off. It simply means that you get plants slowly accustomed to conditions outside over a period of time. Normally, this is done with a cold frame. Start off by opening the top slightly on mild days and closing it at night, then increase this ventilation each day until the top is removed altogether.

If you do not have a cold frame you can use shelves near vents in the roof of a greenhouse to harden plants off or construct a makeshift cold frame out of a large cardboard box cloche or layers of horticultural fleece in a sheltered part of the garden. Prepare the soil, removing any weeds and adding some well rotted compost if the soil is impoverished. Break the soil down to a fairly fine consistency. Set up a garden line at an even distance from the actual edge of the border.

Alternatively, for a curved border, use a standard measure, such as a length of stick, between the edge and each plant. Plant the edging plants along the line at the correct spacing depending on the variety, checking the distance between each one with a measuring stick. You need to firm in each plant and water. For an informal planting, you can use a mixture of plants in uneven rows so that the edging merges into the other plants in the border.

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What to Do With Your Bedding Plants

What to Do With Your Bedding Plants

If you want your garden to look as appealing as possible, you'll need to put some bedding plants in it. For those who don't know what this means, a bedding plant is simply a type of plant that is placed in the garden in aesthetically pleasing formations with other plants. Most plants used for this purpose are annuals. Before you get started, you should know a few basics about which plants to use and how to find them. This will help you create a more pleasant looking result.

Spring and Summer Plants

In order to make your great designs last as long as they can, from spring through fall, you'll need to use different varieties and change them out at least once. One way to do this is simply to make one change a year. So from March through May, you'll use one set of plants (these are your spring bedding plants) and then change them out for another set (the summer bedding plants) near the end of May or the beginning of June.

Purposeful, Not Random

The whole idea of using bedding plants is to create a colorful, eye pleasing design. To do this, you should plan out beforehand what you want to do so that it looks purposeful rather than random. One approach you could take is to make a path that goes through the yard, arranging your plants on either side of it. You can also arrange the plants in complimentary color groups, as well as into geometric figures.

Where to Find Them

So now you must be thinking "this is all great, but how do I actually get a hold of some bedding plants?" The answer is simple. One choice you have is to look for a local greenhouse. They are bound to have what you're looking for. When you look there though, make sure to take a look at the plants first. Check out the leaves (both the tops and bottoms) and look for any signs of insects or fungus. Avoid any plants that have these signs (such as mottled leaves). Another way to go is to shop for bedding plants online. You can find just about anything online these days. Buying plants online is great because often times, it comes directly from the grower. The good thing is that you don't have to go anywhere to order. The downside is that you don't get to see the plants until you receive them, so you should check out customer reviews first and make sure the website has a good reputation for quality.

Setting up a beautiful garden display is easy and simple. There are so many different ways you could do it, you can certainly create a unique design. Just make sure you design with purpose and plan first, and you'll have a great garden. For more information about landscaping and gardening, go to The Nature Walk [http://thenaturewalk.com].

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A Few of the Best Summer Bedding Plants

A Few of the Best Summer Bedding Plants

Summer bedding is an inexpensive and colourful way to fill out spaces in your garden during the summer months. There is a huge array of plants to choose from, some more suited to flower borders, while others best dotted around the flower borders. Whatever plants you choose, make sure you don't bring them out of the greenhouse until the risk of frost is long gone, and when you do bring them outside, acclimatise them first by placing them into a cold frame or leaving them outside during warmer days and bringing them in again at night. Summer bedding plants can be grown from seed, bought as plug plants or as fully grown plants for an instant display. Here are some of my favourites.

Osteospermum or cape daisies are originally from South Africa. They are great ground cover for summer and help to suppress weeds. Flowering heavily from June to October, they come in a variety of colours from creamy white to dark purple. Height 15cm and spread 90cm. Antirrhinums, sometimes called Snapdragons are a popular addition to the garden in summer and are a particular cottage garden favourite. They come in a variety of colours from yellow, pink and orange. They will tolerate full sun or partial shade and flower from May until the first frosts. Nicotiana, commonly known as Tobacco Plant, has pretty trumpet shaped flowers ranging from pink to red and also comes in pale green and creamy white. They are also delicately scented. They tolerate full sun or partial shade and flower from May until the first frosts.

Dianthus is a prolific flowering bedding plant with flowers from coral pink to scarlet and purple. Although it prefers sunny sites it will tolerate particle shade and will flower from May until the autumn. Cosmos is the perfect choice for a summer border. Tall and a prolific flowerer, it will provide colour in the garden until late into the autumn. It comes in shades of pink and white.

I have a number of favourites for hanging baskets and containers. Geraniums have got to be a favourite. In stunning colours from white through to crimson, they come in trailing varieties for hanging baskets or upright for growing in pots. The scented varieties add a subtle fragrance to summer containers. Violas are a particular favourite for all sorts of garden planters. Their cheerful faces brighten up any corner of the garden and as long as you remember to dead head them regularly, they will provide you with flowers all through the summer. Petunias are another favourite for containers. They come in many colours, upright or trailing in habit with double or single flowers.

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This video show you the beautiful colours of summer bedding plants;

Bedding Plants

Are you looking for information on bedding plants? Are you looking for relevant information for the most popular online plants available to you? If your answer is yes I suggest you read the following article.

What are bedding plants?
Bedding plants are all types of plant that can be used for show and for maximum visual effect. Their purpose is to provide a beautiful look either for an outdoor or indoor garden and many bedding plants are ideal for baskets, bedding, borders, containers and patios. Their wide variety of colors provides a unique look and when combined together, provide a unique look that will catch anyone's eye.

They are showy plants and are grown in containers or greenhouse and transplanted once mature. Some gardeners grow their own while others buy them when the need arises to create a certain display. Typically, their displays will appear in Spring and nurseries will sell them far into the summer months.

The following is a list of the various types of bedding plants available to you:

Delphinium
Delphinium Mix has tall flower spikes ( 150 cm ) in flowers in colours of blue and mauve. It has a life expectancy of around 4 weeks and blooms in late june.

Bacopa Snowflake
The Bacopa Snowflake has white flowers and long stems and beams a glowing white in the summer.

Cape Dairs
This flower is native to South Africa and grows solely with strong sun. It requires high maintenance in cold winters and will not survive a frost.

Begonia Organd
The Begonia Organdy grows to a maximum of 12 inches and flowers between june to October. It will produce a lovely green and dark foliage.

Pansy winter sun
The Pansy winter sun is a beautiful selection of yellows and white colours and is a perfect plant for the spring.

Conranspedia offers extensive information on a variety of bedding plants. If you wish to continue your research on the various types and popular online suppliers, please click the following link to my personal web page.

bedding-plants

Various-bedding-plants

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