Floral ideas please

I have a long bed running down my garden which was previously used for fruit bushes. The bushes had some disease a few years ago and the soil needs another year to recover before being putting back to fruit.

I'd like to use the space this year to create a riot of floral colour. The bed needs some weeding and digging so realistically I won't plant it up much before the end of June.

Has anyone got any brilliant ideas for what I could put in? The criteria is:

Needs to be looking great later this year eg September
Sunny, south facing, gently sloping bed. Peaty, slightly acid soil. Sheltered on both sides by a hedge.
Possibly play the role of a cuttings garden - flowers for the house etc.
Ideally not annuals - don't like investing time and money on stuff that only lasts 1 year.
Ideally easy to transfer on somewhere else ie can plant there this year but move on to other borders next year to make space for fruit. Was thinking bulbs but maybe not the right time of year?
High visual impact (but more cottage gardeny than exotic)

Ideas anyone?

 

A couple of years ago, I bought some Marigolds. When they finished and went dry, I took their seeds and put them in an envelope. The following Spring, I planted them indoors and they grew and grew. Even when they were only a few inches high, they seemed to be self seeding (can't quite explain that!). Anyway, I planted them out and they grew into little 'bushes', and continued to self seed.

So, what I am saying is, you could try some marigolds (probably the little plant at this stage of the year). Mine flourished until mid September and then I had seed for next year. So, it was worth the effort and they didn't really need any looking after.


Also, I've got some Sweet Peas (grown from roots not seeds) and they come back year after year, so they are easy too. Good luck.

 

Thanks Butterfield. I've got a few isolated marigolds growing mixed in with some of the vegetable beds. But a big block of them could look great! And we can always use the seeds next year! Sweet peas could work as well.