Find the ideal plants for bedding to plant in your garden using our top ten tips. Sure, petunias and Geraniums (Pelargoniums) are perennials that can withstand frost, which are considered annuals. Others are hardy annuals that can be planted directly on the outside.

Most perennial bedding plants in the summer are started from seed, though there’s usually an enormous amount of work to be done. If you do not have the time or space to grow seedlings, why consider the bedding plants we recommend to help your garden get off on the right foot? Here are ten of our most loved summer bedding plants:

1. Begonia
2. Sweet Peas
3. Busy Lizzie
4. Geranium
5. Antirrhinum
6. Lobelia
7. Petunia
8. Rudbeckia
9. Californian poppy
10. Cosmos

Begonia

A very adaptable perennial bedding plant species for summer, begonias are famous for their vast, colorful blooms and ability to thrive in shade and sun. Blooming all summer until they get their first frosts can grow either trailing or upright and be used as borders, beds, hanging baskets, and window boxes. Certain varieties, like Begonia “Non-stop Mocca’, have striking dark foliage to add interest. Tuberous begonias can be removed and stored in winter and grow bigger and better every year. In contrast, begonia semperflorens cultivars like Begonia ‘Lotto Mix’ are considered perennial bedding plants.

Sweet pedestrian sweet peas to grow up fences and obelisk

Sweet peas make wonderful gardens for bedding plants in the cottage. Allow them to wiggle up the obelisks of wigwams, obelisks, or that can grow to levels that exceed 1.8m (6′). Alternatively, you can consider tiny sweet peas to cover the ground in front of beds and borders. Their delightful scent and numerous colors of sweet peas make excellent summer bedding plants. They also offer beautiful, fragrant bouquets of cut flowers all through summer!

Busy Lizzie

‘Beacon Salsa Mixed’ flowers from June to October

Very useful for shadier beds and borders, the Busy Lizzies (Impatiens) are great for summer bedding plants. Blooms large flowers that come in various vibrant colors, ranging from reds and pinks to whites and purples. New Guinea Impatiens have replaced the popular Impatiens Walleriana because of Busy Lizzie downy mildew. However, they share the same appealing traits – a lengthy flowering time, a habit of mounding in a bush, and a preference for a partial shade. They are big-spreading plants. Busy Lizzies are excellent as groundcovers in borders and beds or quickly fill containers for vibrant patios until the first winter frost comes in.

Geranium

A trendy bedding plant, and it’s not without reason! These robust sun-loving plants are suited to hot, dry climates and will bloom from June to August. Pelargoniums, also referred to by the name of Geraniums, are a variety of bedding plants that are suitable for summer. They include climbing, trailing, and upright types that make great beds border, patio containers, border hanging baskets, and obelisks. They are primarily available in vivid shades of white, pink, and red; bedding plants containing geraniums can also be found in gentle shades of apricot, lilac, and deep burgundy.

Antirrhinum

They are adored for their artistic flower spikes and incredibly long flowering times; Antirrhinums are also known as snapdragons. They are awe-inspiring with their mouth-shaped flowers that can open when squeezed, which makes them a favorite among children. They are available in a variety of vibrant and bold shades; they range in height from tiny plants that do not exceed 25cm (10″) to large plants such as Antirrhinum ‘Royal Bride’, which reaches 90cm (35″). Giant snapdragons make excellent cut flowers that give an extra dimension to borders and beds. The dwarf snapdragons are suitable for walls, mattresses, and patio containers. If you’re searching for bedding plants that draw pollinators, Antirrhinums are an excellent nectar source and are a favorite among Bumble bees.

Lobelia

The delicate flowers of Lobelia produce stunning, vibrant waterfalls of color within hanging containers and pots. The upright varieties are ideal for borders and beds to edging. They are easy to grow and have long-lasting flowers. They are a perfect addition to any summer-friendly bedding style and are particularly beautiful when mixed with other bedding planters in baskets. Lobelia are generally available in excellent blue, white, and purple and are perfect for planting in cool hues.

Petunia

This bedding plant for summer has some of the most captivating flowers! Petunias have become well-known because of their trumpet-shaped flowers, which come in various vibrant colors and patterns, such as patterns and stripes. They are vigorous and half-hardy, which can be upright or trailing and stunning in hanging baskets, windows, containers, and window boxes or arranged in borders and beds. Certain varieties, like Petunia “Purple Tower,” can even climb a wall! Petunias are especially helpful if you’re searching for purple bedding plants with shades of mauve, lilac-blue, or deep, rich purple.

Rudbeckia

Rudbeckias that bloom in the spring, commonly called coneflowers, create sturdy and vibrant garden plants. Particularly suitable for the last few weeks of summer, Rudbeckias bloom from July to October. They add an emotional aspect to the annual display by displaying a yellow, orange, and red color palette. Smaller varieties like Rudbeckia hirta “Rustic Dwarfs Mixed’ are ideal for beds and patio containers. Tall varieties like Rudbeckia “Cherry brandy'” can be planted as significant, sweeping drifts within borders and beds or sprinkled between shrubs and perennials. They not only look stunning in the landscape, but rudbeckias also make excellent long-lasting cut flowers to use in indoor vase arrangements.

Californian poppy

For vibrant color, you can’t beat a Californian Poppy! The hardy annual can be sown right into the dirt of borders and beds and will self-seed easily, producing a dazzling display of color year after year. The traditional color is orange, but recent breeding has created many new colors like pinks, yellows, Apricots, and reds. The vividly colored silky blooms are displayed above delicate clumps of blue-green foliage that appeal to hoverflies and bees. Growing in dry, saggy soils with full sun, you can sprinkle seedlings of these vibrant summer bedding plants wherever you would like them to bloom and let them care for their own.

Cosmos

If you are looking for flowers for your bedding attractive to bees, look at the cosmos! The huge saucer-shaped flowers dance gracefully on thin stems and are a good supply of nectar in late summer to pollinate insects. The fern-like leaves that swoop in the breeze add texture to bedding designs and are great for a casual cottage-style bed or border. These gorgeous summer bedding plants are white, red, and pink, but Cosmos Sulphureus offers fiery yellows and reds. Cosmos bedding plants begin to bloom around mid-summer and bloom prolifically through mid-autumn. They are also excellent cut flowers.