June

Catananche caerulea 'Amor Blue' is a charming plant, with blue, star like flowers each with a dark eye and unique papery petals. They look best when grown in groupings, rather than one or two plants and don’t mind crowding. Plant en-masse in prairie style or meadow plantings, mix them up a little with other hardy perennials and grasses.

A classic filler adding colour and texture, Bupleurum provide charming foliage and blooms of chartreuse green for the vase. Developed for the florist trade and recently introduced, 'Green Gold' produces wonderfully upright plants. Its flowers are produced on long, sturdy stems that have an exceptionally long vase life, lasting up to 10 days in a vase.

Known for its graceful umbels, Bupleurum 'Bronze Beauty' produces small ochre flowers, each surrounded by showy, petal-like bracts. As the season progresses, the bracts mature into warm, cinnamon-bronze tones that are particularly valued in naturalistic planting schemes.

Aubrieta has long been treasured for its delightful spring show of brightly coloured flowers. ‘Whitewell Gem’ is smothered by large, intense reddish-purple flowers for several months. Lovely spilling out of crevices or over rock walls, the plants can also be used in paving with other ground hugging plants.

Commonly called ‘Rock Cress’, Aubrieta is a traditional rock garden plant that is lovely spilling out of crevices, growing over rock walls or placed in stonewalls. 'Leichtlinii' forms a low cushion of leaves that is, throughout the summer months, smothered by wonderful deep-carmine flowers.

Aubrieta 'Hendersonii' is a vigorous variety that is smothered by rich lilac-purple flowers for several months in spring. It grows to only 10 to 15cm tall at maturity, but with a spread of around 45cm it makes a lively edging to a sunny border, growing over rock walls or placed in stonewalls.

Asphodeline lutea is an easy to grow perennial that has great architectural form. The overall impression is distinctly upright, so it is good for adding vertical interest to the garden. In early summer leafy stems arise that bear dense, unbranched cylindrical spikes of gorgeous yellow, star-shaped flowers.

Aquilegia var. stellata 'Barlow Mix' is one of the really exceptional doubles forms of Aquilegia. It is the first Aquilegia series with fully double, spurless flowers. Stylish and elegant, with a graceful upright habit they grow to around 80cm tall. It produces many stems and makes an ideal cut flower.

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.

Aquilegia atrata is a beautiful free flowering species that is native to the alpine meadows and forest clearings of Switzerland and Northern Europe. With many branching stems of deepest coloured, almost black flowers. This is an outstanding, highly sought species that would be a showstopper in any garden.

Anchusa italica is a wonderfully statuesque plant with vibrant, gentian blue flowers, dense foliage and lance shaped mid green leaves. 'Dropmore' is a 1905 selection that is still available today. They will thrive in a sunny border and make a great companion to rich plums and purple tones.

Amaranthus 'Hot Biscuits' is a rather splendid ornamental addition to the garden and the vase. This gorgeous and graceful amaranth feature bold spikes of coppery-bronze branching plumes. They make an excellent cut flower and make exciting vase material that hold their colour longer than other amaranths.

Blending perfectly into the late summer and autumn landscape, the large plumes of Amaranthus 'Autumn's Touch' combine soft pistachio-green and bronze tones to create restful, airy beauty in the garden and make exciting vase material that hold their colour longer than other amaranths and delight the songbirds who flock to feast on their seeds throughout autumn.

Amaranthus caudatus viridis is the green form of the popular drooping amaranthus. The lime green flowers, which slowly fade to cream as they age, form dramatic tassel-like panicles which can grow to 60cm long and seem to drip from the branches in profusion throughout summer and early autumn.

The blooms of Amaranthus caudatus 'Mira' have a unique ombre colour that transitions from light sage green, to lilac, to deep purple. The trailing locks are like jeweled necklaces, thick, pendulous tassels that extend 60 to 90cm long. They add exceptional texture and visual interest to gardens and floral designs alike.

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.

With cascading tassels of the most wonderful coral-pink. Amaranthus 'Coral Fountain' is a great addition to the garden and a superb filler for the vase. With generous treatment, specimens three or four feet or more with enormous drooping tassels of flowers can be obtained.

Until a few years ago you would never have seen wild garlic on a menu, but these days is definitely a chefs' favourite. The whole plant is edible, the flavour is softer, more pleasant than cloves from garlic bulbs. The leaves have a vibrant colour that brings food to life, use sparingly in salads, or add to sauces and dressings. It also makes splendid pesto.