Hardy Perennials

Echinacea purpurea is one of the most versatile perennials for the garden. Flowering from early July right through to September, it is sturdy and self-supporting, hardy and easy to grow, undemanding and suitable for both the formal border and the meadow look.

Echinacea paradoxa is a true paradox – a rare and highly unusual yellow variety of the much loved “Purple Coneflower”. With large, yellow ray flowers and the classical raised cone, the blooms are slightly fragrant and make excellent cut flowers. Echinacea paradoxa is a beautiful, elegant and easy plant to grow.

Echinacea pallida is one of the more rare members of the Echinacea family. They have much longer, ray flowers than those of the more familiar purple coneflower, the plants bloom earlier and continue to bloom sporadically through the autumn months.

Native to the central and south-eastern parts of the United States, Echinacea angustifolia is valued as a short-term stimulant to the immune system. This classic purple flower is easy to grow and continues to be a favorite in home and public gardens, a ‘tried and true’ classic sure to please any home gardener.

Digitalis thapsi 'Spanish Peaks' foxglove is a lovely compact foxglove that produces elegant, apricot-cream to raspberry-rose blooms with interior markings. A superb perennial species that can be counted on for a glorious floral show each spring. Very easy to grow in virtually any location, it is often the first foxglove to flower.

Digitalis 'Silver Fox' is one of the most beautiful dwarf Foxgloves for the cottage garden and border. Growing to just 60 to 70cm tall, the creamy-white speckled bells are flushed with soft lavender-pink. An elegant and rare foxglove that is ideal for borders or containers.

This rare and lovely foxglove from Spain is one of the very best in cultivation. Digitalis obscura, the Sunset Foxglove blooms from late spring to mid-summer with striking bell-shaped blooms in all the colours of the sunset. Rusty orange and amber with interior red veining and spotting.

Dierama pulcherrimum is a distinctive-looking perennial with tall arching stems of bell-shaped, flowers. The flowers bloom in shades of pink, mauve and carmine appear in mid summer. Each stem drops with the weight of the flowers which earns them the most romantic of names - Angel's Fishing Rods.

Dianthus superbus is a garden favourite that ranks highly with many gardeners. The fragrant blooms, in shades from a romantic pale pink to a rich, deep-lilac are so finely cut they resemble frilly pinwheels. Those florists of old who strove for those rounded dianthus flowers must have hated it.

Dianthus pinifolius is a rare and unusual dryland species with a very distinctive look. This intriguing dianthus forms compact mounds of blue-green, grass-like foliage. In late spring to early summer, tall stems emerge from the foliage from which dense heads of dark ruby red flowers erupt.

Dianthus deltoides ‘Microchips’ has glaucous blue-green foliage that from late spring are covered with a seemingly impossibly large number of flowers. In shades of white, pink and rosy-red with crimson rings they give several months of both colour and clove-like scent.

Dianthus ‘Flashing Light’ is a spectacular first-year-flowering perennial that forms a dense evergreen mat. The real joy of this plant comes in late spring when a large number of flowers are borne in quick succession. Poking their heads above the deep green foliage, they sparkle like ruby-red diamonds.

Dianthus ‘Arctic Fire’ is a spectacular first-year-flowering perennial that forms a dense evergreen mat. The clear white blooms are complemented by an attractive, glowing red eye. This quite exceptional little plant will and grow up to 50cm wide, it covers bare spots quickly. Heat tolerant and hardy to minus 35°C.

Dianthus deltoides ‘Confetti White’ is a quite exceptional little plant. Growing to just 10cm tall it will spread up to 50cm wide. The pure white blooms appear in abundance, just poking their heads above the deep green foliage. In the early morning dew or after a shower of rain they sparkle like clear white diamonds.

Chabaud carnations are something else being almost more clove scented than cloves themselves. Developed for florists for use as a cut flower. 'Marie Chabaud' provides armfuls of delicate, pale lemon yellow, frilly double blooms, they will provide a continuous harvest of sweetly fragrant blooms for cutting.

Developed for florists for use as a cut flower. Dianthus Chabaud is a vintage carnation that dates back as early as 1904. Displayed profusely on slender, sturdy stems, the apricot and soft orange blushing petals of Chabaud ‘Orange Sherbet’ are striped with dark raspberry red and coral.

'Chabaud Magenta' provides armfuls of magenta-violet, frilly double blooms with the spicy fragrance of clove. Pronounced shab-o, they were developed specifically for florists for use as a cut flower. With a heavenly scent, tall stems and an extremely long vase life.

Developed for florists for use as a cut flower, the super tall stems of Dianthus 'Chabaud La France' are topped with blooms in the most delicate shades of seashell pinks to creamy blush. They will provide a continuous harvest of blooms for cutting from the end of April until the end of September.