What can I plant in my borders?

I have planted some shrubs, roses etc and still have the front part of the border is still bare soil - what can I do at this time of year - is it too late for seeds?

What would you do - Ideally I would like something that will come back year after year but also flower this year... I'm also on a limited budget..

Thanks in advance

 

I may have found my own answer - can anyone comment on these?

http://seeds.thompson-morgan.com/uk/en/this-month

I wonder if ther're telling porkies though because Nasternuims are listed and I have had some in a hanging basket for ages and they haven't flowered yet even though they are quite big!

 

Thats a very optimistic list, just a quick glance and i can see several that will germinate and grow into plants ,but as to flowering or producing anything worth having,would depend on the great british weather as to what sort of autumn we get,
You could sow seeds of quick growers, marigolds, candytuft etc , i personally would be planning for next year and get a few perrenials and fill them out with bedding plants,begonias,lobelia,marigolds just for ground cover this year while your perrenials are getting going,and you are considering what else you are going to do

 

I agree with the above... you could get some things to flower yet this summer, but at this time I would concentrate on growing bieannials and perennials for next year and after. I know that NEXT year sounds horribly far away, and the bare earth seems so depressing and you think you cannot bear it a day longer. But the truth is that when you are busy in the garden, with your seedlings and pots next year will arrive in a hurry, and if you made good plans this year you willbe so happy with yourself, and so smug as to be insufferable (we all are... I think gardeners are terribly hard on all other people... too bad for the other people).

There's lots of easy biennials that can be sown now for next year. Foxgloves, hollihocks, verbascum and lupins are the first that come to mind. Foxgloves and hollihocks selfeseed freely,and once established they behave like perennials. Lupins you can keep going or treat as biennials.

There are many annuals that selfseed and behave like perennials. Like, dare I say it, Nigella, Verbena bonariensis, californian poppies and many others.

SOme true perennials are also easily raised from seed. Columbines for example. THey come in all sizes shapes and colours, you will certainly find some to please you. There are also many perennials of wich you may buy a few plants and divide them to get more.Geranium machrorryzum and bergenia are very cooperative, as bearded iris are. Vincas are also real workhorses, but they can become an almighty mess, so they are better grown on theyr own, not mixed with other erbaceous. That way you can cut everything to the ground twice a year and keep it undercontrol. The variegated form is extremely pretty.
Sedum spectabile and telephium may be a little expensive to buy, at least the nicer forms.But they can be multiplied really easy from cuttings to get large clumps.

 

I would agree with Pam and Ivory. Its a bit late to sow seeds for things to flower this year but you might like to try some annuals. Annuals are the sprinters of the plant world. They germinate quickly, and often grow and flower quite quickly, and then set a lot of seed. They have to because they have a short life. The seed packets will tell you what plants are annuals, and I suspect most will still flower this year.

Perennials are more like the long distance runners. They can afford to do everything a bit slower because they know they are going to be around for several years. So I wouldn't bank on any perennials flowering this year. But now would be an excellent time to sow seeds of perennials, which will flower next year. Some of my favorites are Centranthus ruber (red valerian - flowers for a very long time). Achillea, Nepeta faassenii (catmint), Helenium, Echinacea, Lobelia 'Queen Victoria', Digitalis mertonensis (Foxglove - this one is perennial - the more common Digitalis purpurea is a biennial).