Summer bedding plants offer a vibrant and easy way to transform your garden with seasonal colour. With a little planning and the right plant combinations, you can create dazzling displays that thrive in the UK’s summer conditions.

Start by choosing your colour scheme. For bold impact, go for fiery tones—think red geraniums, orange marigolds, and yellow zinnias. For a softer, calming palette, pastel begonias, blue lobelia, and white alyssum work beautifully. Limit your colours to three to five shades for a cohesive look.

Next, consider the structure of your display. In containers or hanging baskets, use the “thriller, filler, spiller” technique: place a tall plant like Salvia or Cordyline in the centre (thriller), surround it with bushy mid-height plants such as petunias or impatiens (fillers), and finish with trailing plants like verbena or trailing lobelia (spillers) cascading over the edges.

For garden beds or borders, layer plants by height. Place taller varieties such as cosmos or cleome at the back, mid-height favourites like dahlias or French marigolds in the middle, and low-growing edging plants such as alyssum or creeping verbena at the front.

Sunlight matters. Petunias, marigolds, and geraniums thrive in full sun, while begonias, impatiens, and fuchsias are better suited for partial shade. Always check plant labels to match the right species to your garden’s light conditions.

Finally, maintain your display by watering regularly—especially in hot weather—and deadheading spent blooms to encourage continual flowering. Feed weekly with a liquid fertiliser to keep plants lush and healthy.

With the right combinations and a touch of care, your summer bedding can be the standout feature of your garden from June through to the first frost.