Summer-flowering perennials

I made another trip to the Garden Centre at the weekend, this time in search of some plants to fill those lovely big terracotta pots recently released by the re-potting of the Bay trees. I decided to get some perennials with bright, hot-coloured flowers, to liven-up the garden in the Summertime. There were lots of different plants on display, but of course at this time of year the plants themselves are little more than a few green shoots peeking up above the soil, so I was really glad that they had labels with good illustrations on them to help me choose. This is what I came away with:

1 x Rudbeckia Fulgida "Goldsturm"
1 x Gaillardia "Arizona Sun"
1 x Gaillardia "Burgunder"

These are not plants that I know much about. I chose them purely on the strength of the pictures on their labels!

You can see the prices on the pots. I think £1.99 for a well-established plant like these - which are obviously at least a year old - is good value for money.

The Gaillardia "Bugunder" and the Rudbeckia will both be quite tall plants (the labels say 75cm), so I think they will be ideal for the big terracotta pots. At present of course they are hardly visible above ground, though they certainly had strong root systems.

The "Arizona Sun" Gaillardia is a much smaller type and allegedly grows to about 30cm tall, so I have put it in a smaller pot.

That pot is one I have had for many years, so it is well weathered. It is made of reconstituted stone, moulded into the shape of a half-barrel.

So there we are: let it never be said that Mark's Veg Plot is only a veg plot. Flowers are on the way...