Butterfly Garden

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.

'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.

A beautiful and sophisticated variety, Eschscholzia californica Thai Silk produces extra double silky flowers, 'Pink Champagne' in a unique shade of soft champagne-pink on a cream base. Very easy to grow, they are attractive to pollinators and perfect for cutting.

Galega officinalis is an ancient ornamental plant that produces a delightful natural effect in the garden. The plants have handsome foliage and they errupt in spring to produce countless sprays of fragrant lavender-blue flower spikes, each with mini-sweet pea shaped flowers.

Gaura 'Cool Breeze' is a stunning new variety that is now available from seed. It produces a flurry of dazzling pure white, starry blooms on graceful slender stems. They have pale green stamens and buds instead of the usual pink. A first year flowering perennial, very easy to grow it will bloom in around 14 weeks from an early sowing.

A graceful perennial with an airy, romantic presence, Gaura 'Emmeline Pink Bouquet' blooms in a sparkling combination of bright pink, blush and apple blossom shades, it grows quickly and flowers from a young age. Light on her feet, she never asks for much - just sun, well-drained soil, and a bit of space to dance.

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.

The beautiful, soft violet-blue flowers make the meadow crane’s bill one of our most distinctive wildflowers. Perfect for a meadow, it is often planted in gardens as it flowers for a long time, it must be one of our loveliest wild flowers and worthy of a place in any border.

If there's one plant that can inject a little razzle-dazzle into the border during gloomy late summers it is Helenium. From late July 'Helena' blooms with masses of vibrant blooms in a spectrum of rich colours from gold to mahogany red. Perfect for the back of the border and wonderful for cutting.

Helenium hoopesii is considered by some to be the most valuable of the species. It blooms with bright golden yellow disk florets that each form a kind of rounded knob that transforms the flower from your typical two-dimensional daisy into something much more interesting and sculptural.

Sunflower ‘Autumn Beauty’ produces numerous long-stemmed flowers from summer to late autumn in a variety of solid and bi-colour bright warm colours - golden yellow, bronze, brown and burgundy. The long stems are excellent for cut flowers and look absolutely stunning in a vase on their own.

Helianthus debilis 'Italian Green Heart' produces creamy white flowers with contrasting green centres. Growing 100 to 120cm tall, the flowers are perfect for fresh, cut flower arrangements - especially if gathered while they are still in bud.

Helianthus ‘Vanilla Ice’ is one of the prettiest sunflowers varieties available. With clusters of delicate pale creamy-yellow flowers with dark chocolate centres this compact variety grows to just 120 to 150cm (4 to 5ft) tall is suitable for the border or can be left add a naturalised charm to a wildlife friendly garden.

Perennial sunflowers typically don’t grow quite as tall and large as their annual friends. However Helianthus maximiliani is a wonderful exception. It grows slowly through the summer months as a group of short stems, until late summer when the stems bolt and the flowers head for the sky.

Most gardeners are familiar with the annual sunflower, however, it is the perennial varieties that coexist most happily with other garden plants. Helianthus mollis is a lovely perennial with butter-yellow flowers. It grows 120cm tall and requires little more attention than an annual cutting to the ground.

Heliopsis is a great plant for the busy home gardener. ‘New Hybrids' is a selection of the newest forms, they will bloom the first year from seed with a profusion of blooms in shades in lemon, golden yellow and orange-yellow. The plants will produce arm loads of flowers all summer long and never once ask for decent soil or proper care.

Gorgeously scented pure white flowers are held above rosettes of dark green leaves. Like all sweet rockets it is highly attractive to bees and other beneficial insects, the fragrant flowers perfume the air in late spring and early summer evenings. The night-scented stock is a close relative.