As summer fades, popular bedding plants prove their worth, with luck flowering until the first frosts. And the autumn daisies are making the most of their moment, writes GINA PARKINSON

SUMMER is over, the children are back at school and gardens are hanging on to the last of the tender plants and late-flowering perennials. If September stays mild, we will see why bedding such as lobelia, pelargonium and impatiens are so popular as they flower on until the first frosts.

These plants are real workhorses, starting as early as April in sheltered parts of the country and lasting until October. Lobelia, which is really a tender perennial, can over-winter in frost-free areas, where it will also self-seed; but the fleshy stems of pelargonium and impatiens cannot cope with frost and wither with the cold.

In our garden, the autumn daisies are making a good display, their two-metre stems topped with bright yellow flowers. I don't know what species of rudbeckia this plant is, but it gives a welcome flush of colour and height in the garden from late July. However, it is a thug and needs to be kept under control if it is not to over-run everything else. Its height makes it a good specimen for the back of a bed or border, but it can also be used nearer the front, where smaller plants such as the floppy michaelmas daisy Aster divaricatus can grow through the stems.

These two plants flower at the same time to give a display of tiny white and large yellow daisies for weeks at the end of the summer.

Nasturtiums are good at this time of year, especially self-seeded ones which tend to develop later than those sown in spring and thus avoid the catastrophic attentions of black fly.

They attract butterflies that like to lay their eggs on the underside of the leaves but caterpillar damage seems to be more acceptable than that of the aphid.

The variegated leaves of some varieties of climbing nasturtiums are very attractive and they will grow through hedges and climbers or over plants in the borders, where they can be encouraged to fill gaps left by other plants as they die back.

I particularly like the combination of the delicately-marbled and striped pale green and cream leaves of Nasturtium majus 'Jewel of Africa' with the light pink heads of Sedum spectabile.

Dark-leafed Heuchera 'Palace Purple' and bright orange pot marigold add contrast and stop the group looking wishy washy.

Weekend catch-up

IT ISN'T too late to take cuttings from tender plants for use as bedding next year. Pelargonium and fuchsia root easily, but like all tender plants need to be kept in a frost-free greenhouse or in a cool place indoors.

Impatiens can be rooted in a jar of water then potted on. If space is a problem, keep one or two mother plants and take cuttings from them next spring.

Updated: 11:04 Saturday, September 07, 2002