Butterfly Garden

Verbascum nigrum is one of the most reliable and long-flowering verbascum, it is also one of the truly perennial species. This European native bloom profusely with masses of golden-yellow flowers. First thing in the morning, the flowers are alive with bees getting on with their day’s work. Take time to stand and admire them for a few minutes. They will pay you no heed, they’re far too busy.

Valeriana officinalis is a graceful wildflower that is native to Europe and Western Asia. The tall, branched flower stalks are held atop a low mound of foliage, the densely clustered flowers are sweetly scented and usually white with a hint of pink.

Nasturtium “Peach Melba Superior” is a gorgeous variety, with bright cream, semi-double flowers with mahogany-red markings in the throat. Uniform and compact in habit, this dwarf plant is good excellent in containers, the beautiful flowers are carried well above the foliage for maximum effect.

Tropaeolum 'Salmon Baby' is a very striking and attractive nasturtium that produces an abundance of semi-double salmon-pink flowers which contrast beautifully against the dark foliage. Extremely easy to cultivate, this neat and compact variety has edible flowers and is an excellent companion plant.

Brilliant sizzling, orange-scarlet flowers cover this vibrant ornamental plant, with velvety textured leaves and huge dahlia-like blooms. Growing 90 to 120cm tall, this fast growing plant produces one of the best flowers you can grow for attracting butterflies to the garden and the blooms are excellent for cutting.

As they say, white goes with everything and among theme gardens, the white garden may be the most popular. The White Garden Flower Mix gives a selection of spectacular, bright white annual flowers. Calm, soft and serene this beautiful mix will carry borders into early winter with panache.

Red flowers are much prized in the garden. They stand out, enlivening the foliage with a burst of colour. Even on the dreariest day, red flowers have a dramatic visual impact. Easy to grow and fast to flower, hardy annuals can be unrivaled for bringing summer colour to the garden.

In the garden or in an arrangement, pinks are the easiest colours to combine. From rose to magenta, there are more flowers that bloom in these shades than any other colour. Easy to grow and fast to flower, these hardy annuals can be sown directly outdoors where they are to grow. They are unrivaled for bringing summer colour to the garden.

Ranging from pale baby blue to deep midnight shades and growing to an average height of 70cm (28in), this mix of annual flowers is ideal for the garden and the vase. Blue flowers are associated with serenity and calm - plant them in spring and then tell me that your pulse rate slows just a little bit!

Thalictrum lucidum is a less well known species of meadow rue, it sports luscious deep green, fern-like foliage. In mid-summer the plant is festooned with a superb array of fragrant flower stems, topped with airy puffs of soft cream flowers each with bright yellow stamens.

Summer-blooming spiky flowering plants - in garden design parlance ‘the verticals’. We all need some, and there are lots of contenders, but a plant that can go just about anywhere in the garden, cope with almost all situations and bloom with copious plush spikes over several weeks is a very rare treat.

Easy to grow and quick to flower, French Marigold 'Tangerine' blooms reliably throughout the summer with vivid orange flowers that are lifted high atop lush, scented foliage. The plant is famously used in companion planting and for making flower garlands.

Solidago canadensis 'Golden Baby' is an easy to grow hardy perennial that bears flat-topped clusters of golden-yellow plumes. Growing to around 60cm tall they are perfect for borders or containers and provide end-of-season colour. Given an early sowing they will bloom in their first year.

Sedum ussuriense is at its best in late summer and through autumn, the blue-green succulent, rounded leaves are followed by a glowing display or carmine-red flower clusters. It even pleases the eye in winter when its seed heads turn into a stage for dew drops and ice crystals.

Hugely impressive in any garden, Sedum telephium ‘Emperors Wave’ boasts succulent, blue-green foliage and masses of star-shaped flowers in glorious shades of deep pink and purple. They are popular with late season perennials and ornamental grasses. The extreme contrast in flower shape enhance each other, adding to the textures and colours of the late season garden.

Our native Figwort is one of the most prolific nectar producers in the plant world, the long-lasting flowers attract more pollinators than any other plant around. The flowers, similar to tiny snapdragons ripen into egg-shaped seed pods, which are just the perfect bouquet filler for interest and movement!

The Fama series is well known for its particularly large flowers that are held on long, strong stems. Beloved by flower arrangers, they are considered to be best strain for cutting. This perennial form of Scabiosa are very easy to grow and will flower in their first year from an early sowing.

'Fama' is a most elegant flower. With long stems and intense blue blooms, it is the largest flowering and most uniform strain of the Blue Pincushion. They mature into dense tufts of lance shaped, grey-green leaves from which arise a beautiful display of intense lilac-blue flowers each with a silvery centre.

This clump-forming plant produces pleasantly fragrant pincushion flowers when newly opened. Delicate white petals surround a domed, central cushion, and as the flowers mature, tiny white stamens emerge adding yet another beautiful detail. The flowers have the most delicious sweet perfume reminiscent of honey and marshmallows.

A prodigious bloomer and a tough, hardy garden performer Scabiosa atropurpurea grows quickly and is fast to flower. Rose-pink petals surround a domed, dark centred cushion, this invaluable plant will attract many butterflies and bees to the garden and would look as happy in a wildflower meadow as in a manicured border.

Scabiosa atropurpurea is one of the longest-flowering and most glamorous of flowers that you can grow from seed. Easy to grow and fast to flower, this invaluable plant will attract many butterflies and bees to the garden and the long, straight stems will supply you with cut flowers throughout the season.