Bedding, in horticulture

Horticulture

Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...

, refers to the temporary planting of fast-growing plants into flower beds to create colourful, temporary, seasonal displays, during spring, summer or winter. Plants used for bedding are generally annuals, biennials or tender

Hardiness (plants)

Hardiness of plants describe their ability to survive adverse growing conditions. It is usually limited to discussions of climatic adversity. Thus a plant's ability to tolerate cold, heat, drought, flooding, or wind are typically considered measurements of hardiness. Hardiness of plants is defined...

 perennials; succulents are gaining in popularity. http://www.hortweek.com/news/search/837347/Kernock-Park-Plants-unveils-new-cultivars-2009/

Some bedding plants are also referred to as "patio plants" http://www.hortweek.com/news/search/837347/Kernock-Park-Plants-unveils-new-cultivars-2009/ because they are widely used in pots and other containers positioned on patios, terraces, decking and other areas around houses. Larger tender "conservatory plants" may also be moved out from greenhouse

Greenhouse

A greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...

s or conservatories

Conservatory (greenhouse)

A conservatory is a room having glass roof and walls, typically attached to a house on only one side, used as a greenhouse or a sunroom...

 and planted out in borders (or stood in their pots in sheltered positions) for the warmer months, then returned to shelter for the winter.

The modern bedding plant industry breeds and produces plants with a neat, dwarf habit, which flower uniformly and reliably. They are bred primarily for use in large-scale bedding schemes where uniformity and predictability is of paramount importance, but this is often achieved by losing the plants' individual character, and has been criticised by such notable plantsmen

Plantsman

A plantsman is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable gardener , nurseryman or nurserywoman. "Plantsman" can refer to a male or female person, though the terms plantswoman, or even plantsperson, are sometimes used....

 as the late Christopher Lloyd

Christopher Lloyd (gardener)

Christopher Hamilton Lloyd, OBE was a British gardener and author. He was the 20th Century chronicler for the heavily planted, labour-intensive, country garden.-Life:...

, who championed an informal style of bedding.

Types of bedding

Formal bedding, as seen in parks and large gardens, where whole flower beds are replanted two or three times a year, is a costly and labour-intensive process and large formal displays, once common, are becoming increasingly rare.

Spring bedding

Plants used for spring bedding are often biennials

Biennial plant

A biennial plant is a flowering plant that takes two years to complete its biological lifecycle. In the first year the plant grows leaves, stems, and roots , then it enters a period of dormancy over the colder months. Usually the stem remains very short and the leaves are low to the ground, forming...

 (sown one year to flower the next), or hardy, but short-lived, perennials.http://www.hortweek.com/news/search/895053/Spring-bedding-selling-ahead-summer-season/ Spring-flowering bulbs such as tulip

Tulip

The tulip is a perennial, bulbous plant with showy flowers in the genus Tulipa, which comprises 109 species and belongs to the family Liliaceae. The genus's native range extends from as far west as Southern Europe, North Africa, Anatolia, and Iran to the Northwest of China. The tulip's centre of...

s are often used, typically with Myosotis (forget-me-nots), Erysimum (wallflowers) or Viola ×wittrockiana (winter pansies

Pansy

The Pansy is a large group of hybrid plants cultivated as garden flowers. Pansies are derived from Viola species Viola tricolor hybridized with other viola species, these hybrids are referred to as Viola × wittrockiana or less commonly Viola tricolor hortensis...

).

Summer bedding

Plants used for summer bedding are generally annuals

Annual plant

An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers, and dies in a year or season. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed...

 or tender perennials

Perennial plant

A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...

. They become available (often as what are referred to as "plug plants"http://www.hortweek.com/news/search/793163//) in nurseries and garden centres during spring, to be gradually "hardened off

Cold hardening

Cold hardening is the physiological and biochemical process by which an organism prepares for cold weather.-Plants:During the winter months, as the leaves fall off deciduous species and the temperature drops, the cold forces a stop to water movement in plants. Freezing water can also cause...

" (acclimatised to outdoor conditions) by the purchaser and finally planted out around the time that the last frosts are expected. Experienced gardeners keep an eye on the weather forecasts at that time of year and are on standby to protect their bedding displays overnight with horticultural fleece (or the older alternatives of net curtains or newspaper) if frost threatens.

http://www.hortweek.com/news/search/843510/Summer-sensations-bedding-plant-trials/

Carpet bedding

Carpet bedding employs two or more contrasting plant cultivars with a neat, dwarf habit and distinct colouring (of flower or foliage) to create geometric displays. It is often used to form such things as lettering, logo

Logo

A logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition...

s or trademarks, coats of arms

Coat of arms

A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

, or floral clock

Floral clock

A floral clock or flower clock is a large decorative clock set into a flower bed in a park or other public recreation area.The floral clock was a form of carpet bedding set onto an operational clock-face, invented in 1903 by John McHattie of Edinburgh Parks in Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh and...

s. Suitable plants are rosette-forming succulents such as Echeveria

Echeveria

Echeveria is a large genus of succulents in the Crassulaceae family, native from Mexico to northwestern South America. The genus is named after the 18th century Mexican botanical artist Atanasio Echeverría y Godoy...

or fairly slow-growing or mat-forming foliage plants, such as coloured-leaved Alternanthera

Alternanthera

Alternanthera is a genus of approximately 80 herbaceous plant species in Amaranthaceae, the amaranth family. It is a widespread genus with a cosmopolitan distribution....

cultivars, which are tolerant of clipping; such plants may also be used in three-dimensional sculptural forms or pseudo-topiary.

Winter bedding

Planted in autumn to give a display until early spring, the plants used for winter bedding are mainly hardy perennials. As it has to be planted at the same time of year as spring bedding does, winter bedding tends to be less commonly seen, except in containers such as windowbox

Windowbox

A flower box is a planter box that is usually placed outdoors and used for displaying live plants and flowers, but it may also be used for growing herbs or other edible plants.It is usually placed or affixed to an accessible location so the resident of a home may easily work with the plants in the...

es. Some are short-lived and will be discarded after their first display; others may be used as a source of cuttings for the next year. Winter-hardy ornamental vegetables such as cultivar

Cultivar

A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...

s of kale

Kale

Kale is very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin, and reasonably rich in calcium. Kale, as with broccoli and other brassicas, contains sulforaphane , a chemical with potent anti-cancer properties. Boiling decreases the level of sulforaphane; however, steaming,...

 and cabbage

Cabbage

Cabbage is a popular cultivar of the species Brassica oleracea Linne of the Family Brassicaceae and is a leafy green vegetable...

 with coloured or variegated foliage are increasingly common. Primula

Primula

Primula is a genus of 400–500 species of low-growing herbs in the family Primulaceae. They include primrose, auricula, cowslip and oxlip. Many species are grown for their ornamental flowers...

cultivars (polyanthus and primrose

Primrose

-Botany:* Primulaceae, a family of flowering plants* Primula vulgaris, commonly known as the Primrose * Oenothera, commonly known as Evening Primrose, a plant genus...

s) are commonly used, as are winter-flowering heathers

Erica carnea

Erica carnea is a species of heath native to mountainous areas of central and southern Europe in the eastern Alps, where it grows in coniferous woodlands or stony slopes.It is a low-growing subshrub reaching 10-25 cm tall, with evergreen needle-like leaves...

 and Viola ×wittrockiana, winter pansies

Pansy

The Pansy is a large group of hybrid plants cultivated as garden flowers. Pansies are derived from Viola species Viola tricolor hybridized with other viola species, these hybrids are referred to as Viola × wittrockiana or less commonly Viola tricolor hortensis...

. Variegated evergreens such as cultivars of Vinca minor

Vinca minor

Vinca minor, Lesser periwinkle and Dwarf periwinkle, is a plant native to central and southern Europe, from Portugal and France north to the Netherlands and the Baltic States, and east to the Caucasus, and also in southwestern Asia in Turkey...

(lesser periwinkle), Euonymus fortunei

Euonymus fortunei

Euonymus fortunei, also commonly known as winter creeper or wintercreeper and Fortune's spindle is a species of Euonymus native to east Asia, including China, Korea, Philippines and Japan....

and Hedera helix

Hedera helix

Hedera helix is a species of ivy native to most of Europe and western Asia. It is labeled as an invasive species in a number of areas where it has been introduced.-Description:...

(ivies) are also popular.