Drought Tolerant

Patrinia scabiosifolia has continued to languish in relative obscurity until very recently. Resembling a cross between achillea and the immensely popular Verbena bonariensis, it has all the requisite qualities, airy see-through grace, a strong branching structure, plus sheets of sparkling chrome-yellow flowers.

Russian Sage is one of the great garden plants of all time, but if you've been frustrated by their floppy nature, this new variety will be a welcome addition. Growing to about 60 to 75cm tall, Perovskia atriplicifolia 'Taiga' is also the first Russian sage available as a first year flowering perennial.

Persicaria orientalis ‘Cerise Pearls’ is a new, modern-day variety that grows to a more manageable height of 100 to 140cm . Tall enough to give the same airy effect, yet so much easier to place in the garden. From August to October the whole plant is spectacularly draped with long, dangling, velour-like cerise tassels.

Petunia 'Celebrity' is an impressive and dependable series that has been wowing gardeners for more than a decade. They have the fastest average bloom time, beginning just 43 days after sowing, when the plants are no more than 10cm tall. Unrivalled for long-lasting colour the 'Niagara Mix' is lovely blended mix of blues.

Like favorite guests at a party, Celebrity Petunias come early and stay late. They are unrivaled for long-lasting colour, have great resistance to adverse weather and bounce back quickly after rain. The 'Pastel Mix' is lovely blend of complementary colours, salmon, chiffon morn, rose, pink and lilac.

With their arching, strappy, sword-shaped leaves, Phormiums make a dramatic statement in the garden. They are versatile evergreen plants that tolerate a range of conditions and look at home in a variety of different planting schemes.

Potentilla 'Helen Jane' is a beautiful new semi-dwarf cultivar that displays gorgeous crimson-eyed, bright pink flowers, with petals that are attractively crinkled just like crepe paper. Flowering over a long period, new buds open repeatedly in a long succession, from late June to September.

Venerating a former plant curator at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh, Scotland, 'Ron McBeath' is a beautiful new semi-dwarf cultivar. This diminutive potentilla repeat-flowers for months, sending up wands of rosy carmine flowers even in shade. It outlasts other potentillas by far.

Rosularia is a rosette forming succulent that closely resemble other Crassulaceae such as Sempervivum and Echeveria. It distinguishes itself in spring time when the small green clusters change to a vibrant rich reddish tone. Rare yet hardy, they are seldom seen other than in specialist nurseries or rock garden collections.

Salvia farinacea ‘Fairy Queen’ is an attractive new variety that bears multiple spikes of bicolour blue and white flowers on dark distinctive flower stems from June to October. With a bushy, compact habit and thick stems. A small white spot on each sapphire blue flower creates the illusion of fairy dust.

Salvia patens is undoubtedly one of the very best blue flowering plants, the large, double-lipped blossoms are one of the truest blues found in nature. 'Blue Angel' is one of the smallest of the 'Gentian Sages', there is little else that can compete with the richness of its colour.

Salvia sclarea var. turkestanica 'Vatican White' is a choice white cultivar that is not that easy to find. A nobly architectural Sage, each of its branched stems is topped with a profusion of lilac-white blossoms and brilliant white bracts. The flowers are attractive and are boosted in impact by the large petioles that surround them.

This hardy biennial Sage has been grown in almost every botanical sanctuary in human history and has many plus points: it grows well in poor soil resists slugs and other beasties, and doesn’t slump or need staking. It copes well in sun or light shade and the blooms are a magnet for bees and butterflies.

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

Showing off its large, intensely coloured bracts from summer through to autumn, Salvia viridis 'Blue Monday' is an easy and vigorous annual that produces spires of flowers, encased in intensely violet-blue bracts. For a long season of colour, try this annual sage in your containers or in your garden. It won't disappoint.

Salvia viridis is one of the most rewarding and most colourful plants in the summer garden. 'Pink Sundae' produces spires of flowers with pink bracts. The flowers attract bees and butterflies and the stems make excellent and long-lasting cut flowers that hold their colour well when dried, addding to more permanent displays inside the house.

Prized by gardeners for its spectacular display, Salvia viridis provides a welcome vertical accent to the garden. 'White Swan' produces spires of flowers, that are encased in very showy, clearly-veined, white bracts. As a hardy annual, they are easy to grow, simply sow directly where they are to grow, in autumn or spring.