September

The white form of the lovely Jacobs Ladder, named after the slender, fresh green leaflets arranged like the rungs of a ladder. Blooming in late spring to early summer, the bright foliage and white flowers will brighten shady locations. Both the flowers and the attractive ferny foliage are excellent for cutting.

Collected at altitude in Japan and introduced in 2006, Polemonium yezoense 'Purple Rain' is one of the best new introductions in recent years. With bronze-purple lacy foliage, dark stems and violet-blue flowers, it is the darkest flower form of Polemonium available.

An absolute gift to flower arrangers, this is a noble and ornamental plant for the back of any border making nice clumps of foliage. It is, of course, the flowers that are remarkable: three or four inches across, “green” is one’s immediate impression on seeing them.

Salvia verticillata 'Purple Fairy Tale' is a spectacular first year flowering perennial. The irresistible deep purple petals gather like raindrops in tiered pools to form whorled flowers. Easy to grow, it will begin to bloom just a couple of months after sowing. The plant flowers abundantly and continues right through to September

Salvia x superba 'Blue Queen' is one of the finest Salvias we know. This plant is a spectacular source of dark, intense colour and narrow, vertical form. Masses of pencil-thin, vibrantly colourful bloom spires, so densely set that they present a solid wall of colour in the border.

The royal sister of ‘Blue Queen’, ‘Rose Queen’ is a wonderful, long-blooming cultivar with slender spires and beautiful mulberry-rose flowers, which open from dark pink buds in early and mid-summer. This tall, easy-to-grow variety with lance-shaped green leaves possess a pleasant aromatic scent.

Sanguisorba officinalis is a native of Europe and an old-world herb that is currently enjoying a resurgence in popularity thanks to the revival of interest in perennial gardens and naturalised form of planting. Perfect for natural style planting schemes, it looks right at home in a swaying sea of grasses.

This Japanese species of Burnet has infiltrated our psyche and somehow manipulated us so that we can find no fault with this most refined of perennials. Flowering in the first half of summer, the highly tactile flowers float like dainty ghosts at the tips of their slender stems.

Santolina, commonly known as Lavender Cotton is a small shrub with soft, woolly, finely divided foliage, that make neat, rounded bushes. They are valuable for mass planting, ideal for knot gardens and small hedging around herb gardens etc. It will stand any amount of clipping and shaping - a perfect plant for control freaks.

Cleanliness is next to godliness even in history. For centuries Saponaria officinalis has helped keep us clean while providing a little loveliness in our gardens. The flowers are an important nectar source and emit a pleasant and intriguing clove-like scent, seducing both night moths and butterfly species.

Boasting the most desirable of deep blue flowers, Scabiosa ‘Oxford Blue’ is a reselected form that stands out from other varieties, it boasts the most desirable of deep lavender-blue flowers. The large, domed, dark centred cushions with contrasting white 'pins', bob atop strong stems. A prodigious bloomer, they will supply you with excellent cut flowers.

One of the longest-flowering and most glamorous of flowers that you can grow from seed, Scabiosa 'Summer Fruits' is a fantastic, fruity blend of delicious colours including raspberry, plum and blackberry. For weekly inclusions in the vase keep the flowers cut to keep the production of flowers right throughout the season.

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.

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.

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.

Scabiosa atropurpurea is one of the longest-flowering and most glamorous of flowers that you can grow from seed. 'Purple Black' produces deep, dark flowers that give a beautiful intensity to the garden or the vase. They bloom consistently and attract many butterflies and bees to the garden.