To provide quick, easy to grow seasonal flower and foliage colour, and for ease of planning and setting out,

Bedding plants are usually colourful half-hardy, short-lived or annual plants, grown for displays in beds or containers. They may be changed seasonally, with spring, summer and winter bedding displays each using different plants of appropriate hardiness and flowering times.

Frost-tender half-hardy annuals (HHA) such as Cosmos, tobacco plants, Nemesia, marigolds and Ammi, complete their life-cycle in one season. If grown from seed they are generally sown indoors and grown on.

Hardy annuals (HA) can be sown outdoors directly into the soil in spring where they are to flower. They withstand frosty conditions without protection. Examples include cornflowers, larkspur, Alyssum, Calendula (pot marigold), Iberis (candytuft) and Limnanthes douglasii (poached egg plant).

Hardy biennials (or short-lived

Perennials are any plant living for at least three years. The term is also commonly used for herbaceous perennials which grow for many years (To compare: annual = one year, biennial = two years).

Half-hardy perennials (HHP) live for several years, usually flowering from the second season. Frost-tender, and often discarded at the end of the season, yet they can be overwintered if given frost protection. Examples include begonia, Pelargonium (geranium), salvia and lobelia. Note: some perennials, such as busy Lizzies and Viola (pansy), are grown as

Annuals are plants that complete their life cycle in one growing season. They are generally easy to grow from seed or can be bought as young plants from garden centres. Annuals are ideal for growing in summer containers and filling gaps in borders. Some examples of annuals include sunflowers, cosmos, sweet peas and zinnia.

Half-hardy or tender sub-tropical plants such as banana plants, cannas and palms often form a focal point or centrepiece for bedding schemes.

A group of plants that have thick, fleshy leaves or stems that are able to store water. This allows them to survive in arid habitats with low moisture.

This specialist type of bedding display uses low-growing species that are densely planted in intricate patterns to create a tapestry-like effect. When used in raised beds or on frames, it can create a living sculpture of bedding.

carpet bedding

Hardy perennials or shrubs such as Erica (winter-flowering heather), Euphorbia and Heuchera can give valuable flower and foliage colour through the winter months. Saxifraga, Sedum and Sempervivum are excellent for green roof and vertical modular wall planting. Additionally, Agave, dwarf conifers, Cordyline, Phormium (New Zealand flax) and ornamental grasses can provide a central focus for beds and containers.

Bulbs can be mixed with

Biennials are plants that complete their life cycle over the course of two years. In the first year, biennials typically produce leaves and roots but no flowers. In the second year, they flower and produce seeds before dying. Some common biennials include foxgloves (Digitalis), honesty (Lunaria annua) and viper's bugloss (Echium vulgare).

Successional planting: Many bedding displays are changed twice a year, replanting in late spring (for summer) and early autumn (for winter/spring). However, the highest-maintenance displays involve late spring, mid- to late summer and autumn plantings – but this is usually considered unsustainable practice these days.

For replanting twice a year: try the summer combination of begonia, the flowering seedheads of ornamental grasses (such as Pennisetum setaceum ‘Rubrum’) and late-flowering salvia and verbena. For winter, plant pansies, primulas and bellis to give flower colour during mild spells.

If you are replanting three times a year: plant en masse with tulips and polyanthus for spring; replacing them with nemesia and alyssum for early summer, then cannas and dahlia for late-summer colour. This generally requires well-developed (larger) plants as they have less time to grow and develop in the ground; but can give a fuller display.

Formal bedding: Mostly for bold displays in public gardens and sometimes used in smaller ornamental parterre gardens, formal beds usually consist of neat, symmetrical patterns. Formal planting should be used for entire beds, in closely planted blocks of colour (often in association with orderly edging plants such as lobelia or even clipped box). Dahlias, geraniums bedding lobelias, salvias (Salvia splendens cultivars) are some of the plants frequently used.

Informal bedding: Bedding plants can be used less formally in the garden, perhaps to brighten up the front of a border or fill bare soil under roses. Straight lines and symmetrical patterns are not compulsory here – it’s more a case of having fun with colour and textures.

Carpet bedding: This specialist type of bedding display uses low-growing species that are densely planted in intricate patterns to create a tapestry-like effect. When used in raised beds or on frames, it can create a living sculpture of bedding. Fashionable since Victorian times, the latest plant introductions and creative planting designs help to keep them popular.

Carpet bedding is the most intensive form of bedding and uses plants that are so compact and tightly knitted that the appearance is akin to a woven carpet. Designs are often complex and include intricate displays such as floral clocks, lettering or coats-of-arms. Designs can be much less elaborate, but still effective, such as the flag of your country.

To create the design, sketch it out on graph paper first. Then mark out the soil with a square grid, such as by drawing lines with a cane, and match the pattern on paper to the plants on the ground. Finally, plant it up using contrasting, low-growing, foliage plants such as Alternanthera, Echeveria, Saxifraga, Sedum and Sempervivum.
 
Some public gardens use thousands of plants in carpet bedding and obtain computerised plans detailing how many plants are required and what colour and type of plant. 

Where can I see examples of bedding?

There are many places to see bedding plants used in displays.

• Ascott House and Gardens, Buckinghamshire
• Balmoral Castle, Aberdeenshire
• Brodsworth Hall and Gardens, Yorkshire
• Cragside, Northumberland
• Dyffryn gardens, Wales
• Dunrobin Castle, Sutherland
• Harewood House, Yorkshire
• Hughenden Park, Buckinghamshire
• Kew Gardens, London
• Pitmedden Garden, Aberdeenshire
• Tatton Park, Cheshire
• Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire
• Witley Court, Worcestershire
• Wrest Park, Bedfordshire

RHS Britain in Bloom for more details of award-winning local displays.

Starting out with bedding

Sow seed under glass with or without heat from January to early April. Additionally, as soil conditions allow, you can sow seed directly into the soil outdoors from March onwards. Many hardy annuals can be sown in September and overwintered in mild areas. Cuttings of tender perennials can be taken from midsummer to early autumn.

If you do not have suitable conditions for raising your own bedding plants, many mail order suppliers offer a wide range of bedding plants, sold as young plants or plugs. When these arrive, they need to be carefully removed from their packaging and potted up either into cell trays or 9cm (3½in) pots. Grow on somewhere warm and well lit, such as a greenhouse or windowsill, until the roots have nicely filled (but not crowded) the container.

Calculating the number of plants needed

Where the bedding design is made up of large square or rectangular blocks, a simple calculation can be made to determine the number of plants required. The supplier or seed packet should give a guide to the plant’s ultimate spread. Using this measurement as the spacing between plants, multiply the number of plants needed along the length of the bed by the equivalent number along the breadth.

Should the design use more complicated shapes or be made up of small blocks, it is much more reliable to mark out the pattern on some graph paper first and indicate the position of each plant to scale. This visual approach will help take into account the need to slightly inset the plants around each boundary so as not to have them touching.

Planting out

Plant out young plants after hardening off. Make sure the soil or compost is moist at planting time.

1. Rake the soil level, removing any large clods or stones
2. For formal bedding schemes, mark out the design on the surface of the soil using fine sand
3. Gently loosen plants from their trays by pushing them up from the base. Knock out plants from pots by giving a sharp tap to the bottom with the handle of your trowel. Remember to keep your hand securely over the top of the plant when doing this so as not to drop it on the ground!
4. Handle plants by leaves or rootball
5. Starting with the central block of your design, first lay out the plants on the soil where they are to be planted. Use a template or a rough guide such as the length of a trowel to space plants evenly. Only when you are happy with the positioning should you begin planting
6. Work off a timber board to avoid disturbing and compacting the soil
7. Plant so the top of the rootball is just below the soil surface
8. Firm in
9. Once planting is completed, water in using a watering can without a rose
10. Shallow-rooted plants dry out quickly, so water regularly when they are growing strongly
11. Deadhead spent flowers frequently to promote continual flowering

In a greenhouse, damping off of seedlings, cyclamen grey mould and impatiens downy mildew may be problematic. Good glasshouse ventilation and sufficient plant spacing will minimise powdery mildews.

Slugs and snails can damage young plants and seedlings. Occasional treatment of aphids may be needed to protect vulnerable plants. Watch overwintered plants, in particular, for signs of vine weevils.

Annuals and perennials: the gardeners complete guide to bedding plants by Richard Bird (Southwater 2000, ISBN 1842151037)

Bedding Plants by Martin Fish (Harper Collins 2004, ISBN 0007164068)

The new bedding plant expert by David Hessayon (Expert Books 1997, ISBN 0903505452)

Succession planting for adventurous gardeners by Christopher Lloyd (BBC Books 2005, ISBN 0563521104)

All the above books are made available through the RHS garden libraries at Harlow Carr, Hyde Hall, Rosemoor and Wisley and through the RHS Lindley Library.