If you have the space in your garden this is one plant to choose. Acanthus are robust perennials with handsome, lobed foliage. In late summer, tall racemes of white flowers with dusky purple bracts appear. Used as a motive in architecture and art through ages, Acanthus is a true architectural beauty!

There are so many other plants which steal the show in a way which is more subtle than just big wonderful blooms. Achillea ‘Moonwalker’ is one such plant, the rich green foliage has a fern-like appearance that is just as much the star as those wonderful golden umbels. Sown early it blooms easily the same year.

Achillea ‘Cerise Queen’ is a carefree and generously blooming perennial which requires little maintenance to create an explosion of late summer colour. The large, flat-topped clusters of vibrant, pink flowers with tiny white centers are irresistible to butterflies, and also make excellent cut flowers.

Achillea is a joy to the gardener for its undemanding adaptive nature and its eagerness to perform. ‘Summer Pastels’, with a soft mix of pastel coloured flowers is very easy to grow, flowering in just four months from sowing and producing flowers in abundance from spring to first frosts.

Agapanthus Getty White is a sparkling plant with dense clusters of white flowers on erect stems. It is a sparkling plant and is dazzling against a dark green backdrop. They are terrific as cut flowers and are suited to both formal and modern style arrangements.

The Agapanthus or Blue African Lily is one of the aristocrats of the late summer garden. Requiring only the minimum of care, the exotic combination of graceful foliage and stunning flowers is equally impressive in the border or large planter. This is a lovely plant to grow and they are very easy from seed.

For most of the year Ajuga is a pleasant, quiet achiever, a very versatile low growing ground cover, with evergreen, rosette-like foliage that hugs the ground like an evergreen carpet but those weeks in spring when the blue flowers appear are simply quite magical.

Alcea ficifolia is a less-known variety of hollyhock. It is a perennial variety, with attractive palmate foliage. The plant produces many upright stems and has a busy form. Large, single saucer shaped flowers appear from May to October in a gorgeous variety of antique shades - cream, gold, rose, copper and plum.

Alcea ficifolia, with its pale butter-yellow single flowers is a most impressive plant. Reliably perennial, it produces many upright stems resulting in a bushy form. Very easy to grow from seed, it is extremely hardy and will flourish in full sun and rich soil. The long stems make for excellent cut flowers.

‘Chater’s Double’ give a wonderful mixed colour range of large, fully double flowers are nearly pom-pom in appearance. Rosettes of big hairy leaves will develop by autumn then die back before winter. It will bloom the following summer .... the word bloom being an understatement!

This gorgeous award winning Hollyhock has the distinction of being the shortest in the Alcea rosea family. “Queeny” is a dwarf Hollyhock that reaches only 60cm (24in) in height with fully double blooms. Unlike the tall varieties, it is a perennial that can also be used as an annual as it will bloom in its first year.