Best plant partnerships

The trick is putting the right varieties together, says Peter

- Peter Seabrook

TULIPS planted amongst forget me-nots and wallflowers to flower above them are a popular spring bedding combination, and I often wonder who first had this idea. Similarly, dark-leaved cannas and silver cineraria are used as taller dot plants amongst summer-flowering bedding.

Did these happen by chance and, if so, who brought them to wider public recognition? One of our very successful chance planting partnerships at Floral Fantasia, RHS Garden Hyde Hall, is Viola ‘Citrus Mixed’ and new Ranunculus ‘Rococo Orange’ and R. ‘Rococo Yellow’ (Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants and Ashwood Nurseries).

They are just made for one another, with the ranunculus providing height and the colours being complementary. While the visiting public love colourful floral displays, in many public areas seasonal bedding plant colour has been abandoned because of the cost.