Colour me happy

Not everyone has the luxury of spending their days tending to their garden. But that’s no reason to rest on your laurels. If you’re strapped for time, bedding plants and trusted gardening favourites are a great way to give your garden a post-winter pick-me-up.

Franschhoek Open Gardens

Sunny spots

Fill sun-drenched spaces with indigenous gazanias, which are in flower and available in seedling trays at leading nurseries and garden centres. They’re hardy and easy to grow, making them ideal for low-maintenance gardens. Keep an eye out for the bright orange-and-yellow gazania “Sunset”. Daisy bushes, osteospermums, felicias, arctotis and nemesias are also great for adding splashes of colour.

Osteospermum

Agastache, also known as liquorice mint or hyssop, is a compact, drought-tolerant perennial. Agastache “Summer Glow” is a colourful addition to a sunny border or driveway.

Agastache Ballstraathof

Shade-lovers

Colourful clivias are back in fashion. They look especially beautiful when planted en masse. An added advantage is that clivias have lovely foliage, which adds to your garden’s evergreen backbone.

Clivias

Sun to semi-shade

No spring garden is complete without sweetly scented alyssum. As they’re low-spreading, they make great edging plants.

Alyssum

Trusted favourite

Iceberg roses are garden stalwarts, and will reward you with a flourish of blooms with little effort. They’re ideal for rose-lovers who don’t have time to spend hours pruning and spraying.

Iceberg roses

Lavender is one of the most forgiving plants. It survives drought and flourishes in sandy soil. Lavender makes a great potplant, and is ideal for patios and small gardens.