These native wildflowers have clustered flower heads of tiny white flowers that from a distance look like little patches of snow resting on the grass. This famous herb is terrific as a wildflower clump in a blooming meadow, they are also a favourite for dried flower 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.

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.

This ever-popular annual is perhaps more versatile than you might imagine – good in the border, most effective as a cut flower in arrangements, a good pot-plant and, not often appreciated – if carefully dried, the colour of the spikes remains unchanged for a considerable time.

Amaranthus paniculatus 'Oeschberg' is a rather splendid ornamental addition to the garden: an erect annual, it bears showy red spikes of flowers that not only decorate the border but, fresh or dry, make exciting vase material as they keep their colour when dried.

Amaranthus tricolour ‘Early Splendour’ is grown for its beautiful foliage, the large bronzy-green leaves turn to rosy red leaves as the season progresses. Also known as ‘Summer Poinsettia’ due to the similarity of the bracts, this highly ornamental plant is easy to grow and fast to flower.

Designing a garden with the focus on flowers is missing half the fun, this fiery colourful foliage will add dimension to any planting scheme. ‘Illumination’ is a stunning tricolour variety of Amaranthus, with upper leaves that are a spectacular scarlet and golden orange set atop olive green foliage.

Fabulous foliage adorns this easy and fast growing annual. Also known as Joseph's Coat, this highly ornamental plant adds an explosion of colour to the garden in bright, stable tricolour blends of red, yellow and green. It is utterly breathtaking in mass plantings and very useful as a temporary shrub.

Aquilegia alpina is a species-columbine that rivals the fanciest cultivars and has been grown in gardens for as long as the idea of gardening has existed. It is a clump-forming perennial with deep blue-green, downy foliage and vibrant violet blue nodding flowers in late spring and early summer.

Native to Canada and the US in all states east of the Rockies, this superb variety is quite unlike the usual Aquilegia. Growing just twelve to eighteen inches tall, with dark-green foliage and eye-catching, scarlet and lemon-yellow flowers which hang like drifts of softly illuminated lanterns.

Native to New Mexico, Aquilegia skinnerii was brought into cultivation as early as 1865 and has been since forgotten until very recently with the re-introduction of this selected new strain. An unusually attractive species, with distinctive nodding flowers that are copper-red with golden yellow centres.