Mixed Border
16 December 2008 It is all very fine having a garden of herbaceous perennial borders along with shrub borders, rose zones, beds of annuals and swathes of bulbs in season but when they are not in flower each area can look miserable or simply boring. A different approach is to mix and match where, with careful planning and planting, they can all grow happily in the same area.  Bulbs are ideal for planting through perennials adding colour in spring and autumn when the herbaceous plants do little for the overall show.
Newly planted shrub beds can look sparse for a few years until they spread out and fill their allotted space. In the meantime planting perennials through the bed will fill it up with flowering plants. Later they may be lifted and transplanted or allowed to succumb under the spreading foliage of the shrubs.  Planting bush and shrub roses through shrubs will add to the summer and autumn show and possibly reduce the risk of black spot spreading from plant to plant. Dwarf spring bulbs will provide early colour to the rose bed and that can be crucial as a pruned collection of bush rose in late winter and spring is hard to appreciate.
Annuals are short term plants and a summer display is easily forgotten by autumn when you have to replant with something else equally temporary. However they make a good show to the front of the perennial border. Related Links
Seed gathering
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