‘Fair Lady Mixed’ is a classic tried and trusted variety. Reliably hardy, this uniform mixture blooms in a wide range of colours, both pastels and bright colours and includes the more unusual dusky-pink shades. This marvellous; fragrant, floriferous flower is extremely easy to grow and very rewarding.
Erysimum (formerly Cheiranthus) cheiri ‘Fire King’ is another old and tried variety, with striking, flame-like, glowing orange-scarlet flowers. A compact variety with a bushy habit and a rich fragrance, they will supply the household with an abundance of cut flowers for many weeks.
What spring garden would be complete without a bed of delightful, sweet-scented Wallflowers, harbingers of warmer weather to come? Erysimum cheiri, formerly Cheiranthus cheiri ‘Ivory-White’ is a fabulous form. A compact variety with a bushy habit which is ideal as an underplanting to tulips and other spring bulbs.
This is a classic Wallflower mixture, with the super rich colours you’d expect to see in a Persian Carpet (at a fraction of the cost!) purple, gold, orange, rose, cream and apricot. It is not without reason that this bushy variety so impressed the RHS judges.A favourite with gardeners, Erysimum cheiri ‘Scarlet Emperor’ is a classic wallflower with bold, fiery blooms in shades of rich scarlet and glowing crimson. Strongly scented, the flowers carry the sweet, spicy perfume that wallflowers are famed for.
Erythronium dens-canis is attractive from the moment it pokes up from the soil in early spring. The oval pointed leaves with bronze patterns appear in early spring and are followed shortly by nodding rose pink to purple, elfin-cap flowers that bloom for several weeks.
Erythronium grandiflorum is a rarely offered species. Native to west North America, it is one of the largest of the genus. Blooming in early spring, each flower stem has up to ten golden yellow, nodding, star-shaped flowers with reflexed petals.
Introduced in 2010, Eupatorium ‘Ivory Towers’ is relatively new to our gardens. This architectural plant bears generously clusters of ivory-white blooms which are long-lasting and beloved by butterflies. Given an early sowing, will flower the first year.
Euphorbias give us some of the best early spring herbaceous colour, but Euphorbia polychroma has the most impact. This compact variety grows to only 50cm with a great mound of yellow-green flowers in spring and echoes the daffodils.
In the last decade, Gaura ‘The Bride’ has skyrocketed to popularity among gardeners.A graceful, hazy plant with airy spikes of white, star-shaped flowers with long anthers like daddy long-legs, held on slender stems from May to September. RHS AGMHardy geraniums are undoubtedly one of the most popular groups of plants. Today’s hybrids are the modern flag bearers, they are beautiful, reliable and endlessly various produces jewel-tone, saucer-shape flowers for months at a time. Exceptionally good value this mix always contain a few real rarities.
Geranium ‘Orchid Blue’ is a simply stunning plant, producing clusters of saucer shaped flowers of a rarely seen shade of pure orchid-blue, each with purple-violet veins. This new-on-the-scene plant soon spreads to form low hummocks of deeply cut soft green, leaves.
Geranium phaeum ‘Samobor’ has considerable charm, with luxurious, deep maroon-black flowers which are held high on upright slender stems in late spring to early summer. This beautiful and useful hardy geranium is loved for its amazing deeply scalloped foliage with beautiful dark markings
‘Dark Reiter’, is a fairly new cultivar originating from ‘Victor Reiter’ whose namesake was the legendary California nurseryman. What sets this plant apart is the new leaves that emerge a light maroon colour then fade to a purple-flushed deep green, it produces violet-blue flowers in spring.
“Splish Splash” is a fascinating, rare and prized border plant and one of the most beautiful, striking and unusual perennial geraniums. Very easy to grow, the clumps of divided foliage are topped with mauve-blue splashes and flecks on pure white petals, each petal appearing to be individually designed and painted.
‘Vision Light Pink’ produces masses of large luminescent light pink flowers with red veins from early spring through to late summer. This long-lived, drought-tolerant perennial is useful as a small scale groundcover and in mixed borders. Use it in rock gardens, stone walls or even in container plantings.
Many gardeners look for easy to grow, reliable perennials that provide a bright, cheerful display of colour early in the season. Geum coccineum ‘Borisii-Strain’ flowers the first year from seed producing wonderful vivid orange-red toned flowers from late spring into summer.
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. Very hardy and easy to grow, all this plant needs is sunshine and well-drained soil.
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.
Helleborus niger is smaller and more compact than any of its relatives and is the first in bloom, producing a succession of delicate white flowers throughout winter. It is a welcome sight when the snow thaws to see something so pretty in bloom.Herniaria glabra is a relatively unknown perennial that deserves to be used more often in our gardens. The nursery industry calls it ‘Green Carpet’ and well they should. This lovely bright green creeper spreads effortlessly in all directions. An excellent choice for between flagstones or as a lawn substitute.
Hosta are grown predominantly for their outstanding foliage, from leaves as small as a teaspoon up to those larger than a dinner plate, colours range from deep blues to silvers, darkest shiny greens to bright yellows, from a single solid hue to the myriad of variegations the choice is almost overwhelming.
A deep blue carpet of bluebells is an unforgettable sight to anyone visiting many of our native woodlands. The spring spectacle of seeing a wood not only greening, but also ‘blueing’ is one of the joys of the year. When bluebells are in flower, spring has truly arrived.
Iberis sempervirens is an early season favorite. This low bushy plant produces mounds of blinding white flowers in spring to early summer. An all round tough plant suitable for problem areas, use for containers, for pathways and crevices of ornamental walls. Iris bulleyana is a classic species Iris from western China. It belongs to a small group of oriental species which are entirely hardy and are of great value to the gardener. The plants are successful in any moist garden soil. Flowering from June to July, the blooms with mid purple flowers and dark purple veins.
Iris versicolor is one of the few species in garden cultivation. Although happiest at the waterside the plants will also perform well under average to moist border conditions. Flowering from May through to July, each stalk produces up to five violet-blue flowers with ruffled petals and bold purple veining.
‘Kermesina’ is an attractive and popular cultivar of Iris versicolor. Flowering from May through to July with claret-purple flowers with ruffled petals and bold purple veining. It may be grown in shallow standing water or moist shoreline soils and suitable to be grown in constantly moist humusy soils of a border.
Knautia arvensis is an attractive native perennial herb of well drained grassland. It can be found throughout Europe in meadows, rough pasture, hedgerows and verges. Though it is by nature a perennial, it will flower and produce seed the first year if grown as an annual, either autumn or spring sown.
Knautia macedonica has been hugely fashionable for years and is likely to remain so for many more. This lovely and versatile perennial blooms from late spring to autumn with dark-crimson, richly glamorous pompoms. Established plants produce literally hundreds of blooms in one season.
The Kniphofia hybrids have extended both the flower colour and height range. The usual fiery reds and oranges work particularly well in a planting scheme based on ‘hot’ colours – use them to light up sultry August borders. The cooler yellow, cream, ivory and sometimes green flowers is more restful.
‘Matucana’ was first introduced into this country from Sicily in 1699, this delightful heirloom dates back at least three centuries, highly valued for its wonderfully strong, sweet scent as well as its brilliant bicoloured blooms of richest purple and violet .Extra early, extra large blooms are the feature of this award winning sweet pea, an excellent choice for early spring colour and the best strain for producing early cut flowers. If you have never seen this kind of sweet pea on long stems before, and don’t quite understand what all the fuss is all about…they are marvellous …guaranteed to make you fall completely in love with them.
The Heirloom Mixture is a wonderful mixture of the Heirloom Grandiflora Sweet Peas. Representing most of the colours of this type and containing varieties that date back to the 16th century. Fabulous flowers in great colours that grow on vigorous plants, each have an intense full bodied perfume.
A highly scented heirloom sweet pea introduced by Henry Eckford in 1905 and named in honour of Queen Alexandria, wife of King Edward VII. Lathyrus odoratus ‘Queen Alexandria’ has bright scarlet-pink blooms with three flowers per stem. Strongly scented too.“Midnight” is very special variety. Seed of which is seldom available. Beautifully formed scented blooms of dark crimson, almost black. An amazing colour. The flowers are almost twice the size of a regular sweet pea and its stems are almost twice the length and so are perfect for cutting.
A blended mixture of outstanding quality. Composed of over 40 colours and shades of the Spencer Waved sweet peas. Large flowered and fragrant with an excellent colour range – with so many having such a beautiful scent … who could resist?
Sweet Pea ‘Princess Elizabeth’ was first introduced in 1945. It was on display when the Queen first visited Chelsea Flower Show in 1947. In 2008 the Queen was delighted to be presented with a new bouquet and to hear that hear her namesake has been grown continuously for more than 60 years.
The deepest purple of all and one of the most popular lavenders is ‘Hidcote Blue’. A compact variety, suitable for growing in borders or as dwarf hedging, with dense silver-grey foliage covered in fragrant, dark purple-blue flower spikes in mid-summer.Lavendula angustifolia is an excellent plant for low informal hedging and as a specimen evergreen for borders and formal gardens. Flowering generally begins from mid to late June to early July. The flowers have a rich sweet scent and are highly attractive to bees and other beneficial insects.
Munstead Lavender is a fragrant robust English lavender that, due to its short size and tightly held blooms, makes a great hedge. It flowers profusely in the spring, after which a good pruning will provide an attractive grey bush with highly aromatic leaves.
Lavender stoechas is an old variety, cultivated for more than 400 years, it is a favourite both for its intense fragrance and for the short dense flower spikes. French Lavender blooms from spring to frost and has a good clean scent. The Ox-eye Daisy is one of the most familiar of all summer flowers. They can be planted at almost any time of year. When seen naturalised in drifts in a sunny wildflower meadow, adorning roadside and meadows or even in a little corner of the garden they are spectacular.
Linaria ‘Canon J Went’ is a delightful plant with tall spikes of pink and mauve tiny flowers. Easy to grow and flowering prolifically in a sunny spot, the delicate plants provide a softening haze in perennial borders.
Lupin ‘Noble Maiden’, occasionally called Fraülein, feature soft ivory white buds that open to pure clean white. The flowers open from the bottom up making for a longer blooming period. Stunning in the border or in a vase.
George Russell developed his Lupins aiming for, and achieving a central stalk or spike totally obscured by colourful flowers. ‘The Governor’ is one of the most popular from the series and features deep ultramarine blue blooms each with white flag. Each small flower of Band of Nobles ‘Chandelier’ is a glorious shade of golden yellow, and the standard (the upper petal) is often a shade or two lighter. They have been bred for a long flowering period and give unbeatable garden performance.
The magnificent vertical stems of Lupin ‘My Castle’ produce vibrant red blooms bringing height and grandeur to summer borders. The intense colour of this robust variety makes a real statement when planted in drifts, or dotted among other perennials.
The Russell Hybrids ‘Band of Nobles’ series have exceptionally bright and strong colours. ‘The Pages’ produce magnificent vertical stems of carmine red blooms. These hardy plants will surviving extreme temperatures withstanding frost to at least minus 25°C. Recently introduced to gardens and a hit Chelsea Flower Show, Lysimachia ‘Beaujolais’ feature flower spikes of deep claret which bloom continuously from May to September. The plants give a good effect used in tight drifts through grasses and other perennials. Ideal for cutting, the dark flowers are adorable in bunches.
Lysimachia ‘Lady Jane’ produces spires of white blossoms right above the foliage, they arch over then tip up at the ends and grow in beautiful curvy forms. Absolutely loved by butterflies, an additional feature is the good autumn foliage colour.The Meconopsis genus contains some of the most exquisitely beautiful of all flowering plants. M. cambrica is the easiest to grow, and is reliably perennial. The delicate cup-shaped, golden-yellow flowers are borne in abundance from late spring to early autumn.
Miscanthus are the queen of ornamental grasses. Miscanthus sinensis ‘New Hybrids’ provide a multitude of cultivars with varying heights, leaf widths and bloom times. Some plants will be upright growing and others will have a cascading habit, also expect variation in colouring.
‘Panorama’ must be rated a marvelous achievement in the perfection of the whorls of flowers and the brilliance of the colours. In many shades of scarlet, bright red, pink, salmon and crimson, each plant bears up to 20 long stems. They are as long-lasting as they are dramatic and excellent for cutting.
Monarda fistulosa, also known as Bergamot is famed for its medicinal qualities. While in the perennial border these lovely plants produce a mass of mauve-purple blooms (even in their first year from an early sowing) and have uniquely scented foliage. Highly attractive to bees and butterflies.
Veteran gardeners are probably already aware of nepeta’s versatility in the garden. From its popular partnering with roses to the softening effect it has on hard edges. Nepeta is an ideal perennial for new gardeners and, of course, cats adore it.Despite its American provenance Panicum virgatum was originally taken up by German landscapers and gardeners. Renowned for its steely coloured blue-grey to blue-purple leaves, but it is the contrast between the rigid, stainless-steel foliage and purple-pink froth that really charms.
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