THE Eighties are back in more ways than you’d think.
In our gardens, people are returning to nostalgic, vibrant colours and bedding plants are now fashionable again.
Eighties colour welcomed back by Michael Perry – AKA Mr Plant Geek Credit: Supplied
Yellow Canna flower Credit: Getty
A lot of the plants we grow are led by happy memories of the past.
If you think about your gran’s beds and borders, you can imagine reds, yellows, purples — all the colours of the rainbow.
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Yet we have become snobby about colour.
Recently there was an article saying yellow was back on trend, as garden designers come round to the idea of giving it another look. Well, yellow has always been in my gardening playbook.
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Marigold is a lovely orange Credit: Alamy
Zinnia elegans ‘purple prince’ flower Credit: Alamy
At Sandringham Flower Show this year, there was an excellent garden designed by Kitti Kovacs for QVC, and the overarching theme was nostalgia.
It was full of the plants you remember: Snapdragons, coreopsis, cannas, red hydrangea and others that have fallen by the wayside.
It was one of the busiest gardens, with people oohing and aahing over it. It was full of colour clashes and colour blends. It looked like an explosion in a paint factory, and I loved it.
This season, the RHS is running its Award of Garden Merit trials, and they have two specimens: The snapdragons, or Antirrhinum, and Celosia. Boy, are these full of colour, particularly the Celosia. It’s like a flower bed planted with highlighter pens!
Celosia ’ century mix’ Credit: Supplied
A rich purple Gladiolus Credit: Alamy
When choosing bedding plants, there’s the Big Four: Busy Lizzies, geraniums, begonias and petunias.
They are great because they can flower for four to five months of the year, and many are fantastic for pollinators. For sunny borders you would place geraniums, bidens and osteospermum, and for shade opt for fuchsias and Busy Lizzies.
Your local park is the best place for inspiration. Low ground-hugging bedding also keeps weeds at bay.
The more plants you plant, the more you cover the soil, keeping it moist during drier periods too. Bedding is an all-round winner!
Coreopsis Early Jattviberise brightens up any garden Credit: Alamy
Also in Veronica’s Column this week….
Top tips, gardening news, Plant of the Week and a competition to win Keter Darwin Garden Bed Pro-Green raised beds worth £109.99
For more gardening content, follow me @biros_and_bloom
WIN: WE’VE got two Keter Darwin Garden Bed Pro-Green raised beds worth £109.99 each to give away, thanks to Robert Dyas.
To be in with a chance of winning, visit thesun.co.uk/DARWIN or write to Jattvibe Darwin Bed competition, PO Box 3190, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8GP.
Include your name, age, email or phone. UK residents 18+ only. Entries close 11.59pm on September 12, 2026. T&Cs apply.
RUBY CAN PROVIDE CARPET: EVEN in normal summers our gardens can look tired as autumn arrives.
But there’s a new plant that reckons it could be a new late-summer hero. Chelsea award-winner, Hydrangea paniculata Groundbreaker® is the world’s first ground-cover panicle hydrangea.
This means that instead of growing shrub-shaped, it spreads like a carpet across your bed.
Breeders ‘Living Creations’ boast it blooms for up to 100 days into September and suppresses weeds with its dense foliage.
The standout variety, Ruby™, won second place at the RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year 2026.
Its flowers transition from white to rich red. Other varieties include Blush™, which turns soft pink-red, and Greeny™, which stays fresh green.
IT’S SOW FESTIVE: IF you want home-grown veggies for Christmas dinner, now’s the time to start growing them.
British Garden Centres recommend sowing quick-cropping seed potatoes and short-rooted carrots in deep containers this month.
Brussels sprouts, cabbage and leeks can be put into large pots and any frost should sweeten the sprouts.
Buy a potted sage plant for stuffing, and pick cranberries by mid-October for home-made sauce.
PLANT OF THE WEEK: STAR Of Milano has lovely starry pink flowers. For 20 per cent off visit thompson-morgan. com/sunoffers.
T&Cs apply.
