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Small annuals for dry sun

Dirty HarryDirty Harry Posts: 1,048
edited May 2018 in Plants
As the title suggests. Excuse the crap picture but looking to fill some of the spaces in the border with some small bedding plants that are happy in dry soil and sun all day.

Maybe a better question to ask would be, out of the typical bedding plants on sale just now, what likes it moist and would be best avoided?

I'll be having a browse tomorrow at garden centres and will just see what takes my fancy but this information would be good to know beforehand. 


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  • BorderlineBorderline Posts: 4,700
    Why not try Diascias. Some are tender perennials if you have a sheltered border. Comes in pinks, mauves, apricots to rich oranges.
  • Kitty 2Kitty 2 Posts: 5,150
    Haven't bought bedding plants for years since I started growing my own from seed, so not sure what's on sale now.  White alyssum would make a nice little filler amongst what looks to be a purple themed bed with, is it lavender?
  • Dirty HarryDirty Harry Posts: 1,048
    Heavy on the purple indeed! So no more purple, should have mentioned.

    The big one is bowles mauve, two French lavenders at the bottom and there are two small English lavenders the other side of the bowles mauve.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Mesembryanthemums.
    i grew them when I first started my long border and the perennials hadn’t filled out.

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    I like diascias too. Mine overwinter well, too. Alyssium, Nemesia.
  • tessagardenbarmytessagardenbarmy Posts: 346
    Californinian poppies or nasturtiums with variegated leaves
  • Dirty HarryDirty Harry Posts: 1,048
    Thanks for these suggestions folks. I'll see what I can find tomorrow at the garden centre. Do like the look of those Mesembryanthemums although I'm always up for having a good variety (despite so much lavender, honest).
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  • Dirty HarryDirty Harry Posts: 1,048
    As an aside, does French Lavender tend to do fine over winter in the ground? I've put the one I had in a pot last year in the ground now but about a third of it died off in the cold spell we had while it was still in its pot.

    I know it's not as hardy as English but I'd like to think being in the ground will keep it happier.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    I think it's main challenge is with wet. If it's in the ground in clay, for example, it will often die off because the soil just doesn't drain well. It won't sit in a puddle. If putting in the ground, it's a good idea to dig out a large planting hole and fill it with grit, so that the roots will never have to sit in water.
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