The bedding out of flowering plants for temporary display in the UK began in the 1820s. People had grown tired of the ‘landscape’ style which included grass, trees, stone and water but no flowers. The plant hunters were sending a steady flow of colourful new flora and shrubs back from the Americas and Africa.
In the 1830s bedding became popular in the gardens of the great houses of the country and was promoted in the gardening books of the day. The beds were filled with exotic plants that attracted much attention. The new plants needed warmth to start growing and so bedding was still too expensive for most civic spaces and private individuals.
In 1845, the Glass Tax was repealed and this provided the spark to ignite the bedding craze. Suddenly large glasshouses sprung up all over the country and by the time of The Great Exhibition of 1851, bedding was widespread across the country in parks, in small private gardens and the gardens of the great houses. This craze lasted 30 years with the London Parks using two million plants a year in the 1870s. Beds and designs became ever more complex and gardeners and wealthy house owners tried to outdo each other. These ornate, highly colourful displays came to symbolise the grandeur of the Victorian era.
Gradually, a trend for more subtle colours emerged and more foliage plants were used. This new style was called ‘carpet bedding’ and the aim was to plant the surface of a bed with a close cover of foliage that would provide a backdrop for flowering plants, breaking-up the visual monotony of previously massed bedding techniques. The plants were kept clipped to a regular height and often planted in elaborate bed designs or even sculptured forms. The plants used lasted longer than the flowers of a massed bedding system and so extended the seasonal enjoyment of public parks. Carpet bedding soon showed itself to be highly adaptable to commemorative or civic planting, incorporating town names, shields and other designs. This style remained popular until the First World War.
Carpet bedding fell out of favour in the grand houses during the 20th Century, partly as a result of changing tastes but also due to the shortage of labour. The displays remained popular in public parks and tourist towns where they were often used to promote civic pride. Municipal coats of arms, important events - especially Royal ones, such as coronations and weddings - provided inspiration to parks departments across the country.
Since the 1980s many new and exciting varieties of bedding plants have been introduced and there has been a renewed interest in what can be achieved using this fascinating group of plants.