Dry Areas

Eryngium maritimum is an evergreen perennial plant native to Europe. Often found on sea shores, it is a protected species in many parts of the world. Highly ornamental, it is grown in gardens for its metallic bluish flowers and intensely whitish-glaucous leaves, it is very attractive to bees and butterflies.

This attractive sea holly forms clumps of evergreen, soft, deep green heart-shaped leaves. In early summer, the thin wirey stems emerge, set with spiny leaves. The branched stems carry a profusion of small, sea holly flowers in bright, steely blue. It prefers full sun and well-drained soil.

Eryngium variifolium ‘Miss Marble’ is a spectacular evergreen perennial. The neat mound of basal leaves are attractively marbled with silver veining. In summer upright stems bear silvery-blue flowers, each thimble is surrounded by long, slender bracts which splay outwards, adding to the prickly appearance.

Long sword-shaped leaves that launch an architectural wonder of tight set thistle-style, white spheres, the flowers of Eryngium yuccifolium are borne on tall branching stems. The unique structure and colour make it highly desirable to gardeners as accent plants in borders and wildflower meadows.

Siberian wallflowers are at their best in early to mid-May. With cheerful deep orange blooms, they are very easy to grow and combine well with other plants; indeed wallflowers demand companions and set the mind racing regarding potential planting combinations.

This old English cottage plant is making a comeback, and no wonder. The astonishing, velvety Wallflower 'Blood Red' with deep crimson-red flowers is a favourite with gardeners. They are ideal for borders and edging, they could also be used in large containers….and of course, walls!

Wallflower ‘Cloth of Gold' is a favorite with gardeners, each plant wears a cloak of the finest gold and the large golden-yellow flowers are filled with a sweet fragrance, from mid-spring and throughout summer. They are a perfect foil for daffodils and many other spring bulbs.

‘Fair Lady Mixed' is a classic tried and trusted variety. Reliably hardy, this uniform mixture blooms in a wide range of colours, both pastels and bright colours and includes the more unusual dusky-pink shades. This marvellous; fragrant, floriferous flower is extremely easy to grow and very rewarding.

What spring garden would be complete without a bed of delightful, sweet-scented Wallflowers, harbingers of warmer weather to come? “Ivory-White” is a fabulous, yet hard to find form. A compact variety with a bushy habit which is ideal as an underplanting to tulips and other spring bulbs.

Eschscholzia are of the easiest and most colourful annuals to grow, with masses of beautiful silky flowers in shades of gold. They bloom profusely over a very long season, succeed in all soils and garden positions and are heat and drought-resistant. They give a garden performance second to none!

This is a lovely cultivar of the California poppy, the blooms of 'Ivory Castle' boasts single, creamy white blooms. One of the easiest and most colourful annuals to grow from seed, they bloom profusely from mid summer until frosts. Extremely attractive to bees, they are breathtaking in massed plantings or containers.

With flowers that resemble a rose, Eschscholzia californica 'Rosa Romantica' is a lovely and quite unique California Poppy, the petals are streaked in the most romantic of shades, soft pink-rose and salmon-fuchsia overlay creamy white on each elaborately painted petal.

Eschscholzia 'Thai Silk' boasts large semi-double blooms in breathtaking jewel tones and a chiffon-like texture reminiscent of glorious oriental silks. This exotic mix contains the Thai Silk series of colours: Appleblossom, Rose, Apricot Chiffon, and Pink Champagne.

'Thai Silk' is a stunning range of California poppies of superb quality with silky flowers. 'Appleblossom Chiffon' produces very double flowers in an ethereal shade of shimmering, dappled silvery-pink. Very easy to grow, they are attractive to pollinators and perfect for cutting.

Felicia 'The Blues' is one of the few Felicia’s with entirely blue flowers. It is drought tolerant and very easily grown from seed. Flowering in just 8 to 10 weeks from sowing the stunning electric-blue flowers are borne above tidy, compact foliage.

An often forgotten herb, Galium odoratum can be a valuable addition to the garden, particularly shaded gardens. Soft green leaves are carried in whorls on stems and when its small white vanilla-scented flowers appear above this lush carpet in May and June, the effect is enchanting.

Gaura lindheimeri 'Sparkle White' is a stunning hardy perennial. A Winner of the Fleuroselect Gold Medal, this bushy, clump forming variety has a neat, compact habit and produces a flurry of dazzling white, starry blooms on graceful slender stems from early summer right through to autumn.

Introduced in 2008, Gaura lindheimeri 'Summer Breeze' has now been made available in seed form. A hardier, more robust variety, long blooming and floriferous, it produces open, willowy, vase-shaped plants, with long graceful stems that suspend numerous little, dainty, butterfly shaped flowers at their tips.