I think the old style of bedding out is a throwback to a past era when it was more popular. , & Peter Thoday talks about some of the adverse reactions with one critic of the time talking about the "hideous miles of pink & red Pelargoniums".
I think that is why some areas near the coast here do still have them, as the buildings and gardens are of that era. And Floral clocks....
We have a mixture in Bath, bedding floral baskets etc and some perennial planting on roundabouts and some beds in our parks. Annual bedding, although expensive to do and wasteful, does have the advantage of tidiness (if that's an asset) especially in the winter months, unlike perennial plants, most of which die down and can look very drab and untidy. The floral baskets on poles are just removed over the winter. As stated above, most councils have cut back on their gardening departments and consequently the trained gardeners. Our local roundabout has been planted up, watered and maintained by a very small group of volunteers from our local Gardening Club and has looked fantastic all through this summer. They have very wisely chosen mostly perennials and grasses which hopefully will survive the winter. They did however have to jump through all sorts of bureaucratic nonsense first.
It's been a mystery to me of late why councils with their pips squeaking don't plant perennially. Instead they spend tonnes each season on new plants, then rip them out and toss them out. Our annual round of pelargoniums just look awful with two thirds cut off the budget.
And I really hope someone somewhere are composting the plants and they are not going into landfill. The park leaves also. The waste doesn't bear thinking about.
Back at the end of the 19th century , the likes of Gertrude Jekyll an William Robinson were fed up with " bedding ". It amazes me that anyone still likes it. Blue lobelia alternated with white alyssum with salvia Blaze of Fire behind. Pass me the napalm.
We are a bit behind the times here, but even here more perennials and annual wildflowers are creeping into council bedding schemes. The begonias are still going strong though.
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
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And Floral clocks....
It amazes me that anyone still likes it.
Blue lobelia alternated with white alyssum with salvia Blaze of Fire behind. Pass me the napalm.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.