This plan is for a bed 6 metres by 2 metres in size, backed by a fence; it could, of course, be extended or reduced depending on what space you have available. To extend it you may like to increase the number of plants in each of the colour sections; if you have to reduce the size, you may choose to leave out one colour section altogether.
I have more or less followed the approach often used in designing a ‘colour’ border: you start with cool colours like blues and purples at one end and finish with hot colours like orange and red at the other. I have altered the sequence a little, however, as we start with blue but end up with yellow, so we follow a slightly out-of-kilter rainbow, namely blue, indigo, violet, red, orange, yellow. Green is incorporated all through the border, of course, in the foliage.
You would be correct in thinking that it might be a little foolish to incorporate many red flowered plants in our design, since the majority of the red wavelength falls outside the visual spectrum of bees. The two flowers that we see as truly red, however, are attractive to bees for different reasons: the Monarda produces an abundance of nectar which the bees seem to be able to detect despite the colour of the flower; and although the Dahlia ‘Bishop of Llandaff’ has bright red marginal petals it has a ring of yellow florets which circle the centre of the flower, and this is what the bee sees.
Focus and framework
A focus doesn’t feature in this plan but there are a number of framework plants, including two climbers – clematis and honeysuckle – which will clothe the fence at the back of the border. If you don’t have a fence and want to treat this border as an ‘island’ bed, simply ignore the climbing plants altogether.
Flowers
Once again, flowers provide the main interest both in terms of colour and seasonality. I have arranged them in such a way that there is at least one specimen in flower in each of the seasons within the colour sections of the border. This will hopefully give an attractive display and also offer reasonable foraging for bees throughout the season.
Fillers
Tulipa and Allium fill the gaps in between the main planting. The Tulipa especially provide early season colour and a useful source of pollen for bees. The Allium are a tall, white variety with green centres to the individual flowers and, like other Allium, provide bees with a good deal of nectar during late spring and early summer.
Plant families
The Primary families of Asteraceae and Lamiaceae make up the bulk of the flowers. Secondary and Other families have an almost equal number of representatives, and these together add extra interest to the border in form and texture.
Caryopteris x clandonensis ‘Worcester Gold’ (C – see key)