ACHILLEA
These spreading perennials have large round flat heads of tiny flowers over a long season. Needs well-drained sunny spot.
‘Cerise Queen’ Bright pink flowers keep their colour well over grey green lacy foliage. Reliable & easy 2ft / 60cm
'Forncett Fletton' From the famous Four Seasons nursery, the flowers start a good bright burnt orange and fade through ochre to buff. Robust and hardy, dark green foliage. 3ft / 80cm
neilrichii Pale cream flowers over grey, ghostly, lacy foliage. Reliable, hardy & will even grow in dry shade. Easy 2ft / 60cm
ptarmica ‘The Pearl’ - An old variety but strong growing with clusters of button like double white flowers. Give it somewhere sunny and space to go for it!
'Rose Madder' Large heads of warm dark pink/red flowers over grey/green foliage. 2ft / 70cm
ACONITUM
The strong upright spikes of hooded flowers on the monkshoods make a wonderful alternative to delphiniums and grow in most soils, tolerating part shade. Take care, however, when handling, as all parts of the plant are poisonous.
*cammarum bicolor - Large branching sprays of flowers, off white with prominent, dark blue edges. Looks like a small flowered delphinium, but the slugs won’t touch this, 3-4ft.
henyri ‘Spark’s variety’ - Very tall upright stems with long open spikes of deep purple/blue flowers. Finely dissected foliage, 4ft.
napellus - Very cut leaves, tall spikes of mid -blue flowers, 3ft.
- albidum - as above but cool creamy white flowers, 3ft.
ALLIUM
The flowering onions come in all sizes and colours. Almost all like a sunny well drained spot and several will quite happily naturalise in light woodland or meadow. The seed heads make a bold statement even after the flowers have gone.
- cristophii - Huge footballs of starry flowers on 18ins stems, pinky-purple in flower but spectacular right through to autumn as dried heads.
- hollandicum ‘Purple Sensation’ - Well named as the tall strong stems topped by 4” balls of purple flowers are sensational, 3ft+.
- nigrum This is actually a white flowered allium with large half round heads and each starry flower has a black eye. 2ft / 60cm
‘Purple King’ – Like a small cristophii. Open starry flowers, deep purple pink, on slender stems. 2ft/60cm
rocambole or 'snake garlic' A very weird but decorative garlic, perfect for planting round your roses - said to deter blackspot - with corkscrew flower stems [edible] developing massed heads of tiny garlic cloves rather than flowers [also edible]. The garlic bulbs can also be used but make much smaller cloves than cultivated. Very easy and perfect for a small garden. 2ft / 60cm
- sphaerocephalum - Small deep purple-pink oval heads on tall stems, wonderful out of gravel or grasses, 2ft.
AMSONIA
These North American natives have slender stems from a woody rootstock and are ideal for growing in dappled shade where their starry blue flowers will really shine out. Tolerant of most soils, not too dry please.
ciliata - The slender, branching stems are flushed purple, a nice contrast with the fresh, green of the slender leaves. Heads of fine starry pale slatey-blue flowers are produced freely from May to July, wonderful autumn foliage colour is a bonus, 3ft / 80cm
tabernaemontana - as above but not as slender and willowy, darker, more lilac-blue flowers, 3ft / 80cm
ANEMONE
A large family of herbacious perennials and bulbs, providing flower from late winter to autumn.
- sylvestris Clump forming, with cut leaves and large white flowers with yellow stamens. This flowers for a long time in spring and early summer. Part shade or woodland, easy, hardy. 18ins/50cm
ANTHEMIS
Delightful daisies with feathery foliage, flowering over a long period if dead-headed. An open sunny site with good drainage suits them best.
cupaniana - Silvery foliage and white daisies with bright yellow centres, 12ins
ARMERIA
maritima rubrifolia - To all intents and purposes the same as the common sea pink but the leaves are flushed deep maroon and the flowers a more intense pink. Easy, choice, 12ins.
- alba - A white sea pink, with very fresh green leaves setting off clean white flowers.
ARUNCUS
doicus kneiffii - The ferny cut leaves of this choice goatsbeard are reason enough to reserve a spot in your border; add the open, branched plumes of tiny white flowers in summer and resistance is futile. Tolerates part shade and prefers good soil, moist is even better, 2-3ft.
- 'Guinea Fowl - A new choice goatsbeard with long plumes of tiny white flowers held horizontally and all pointing in one direction. Foliage is tinted bronze. Tolerates part shade and prefers good soil, moist is even better, 2-3ft.
ASTER
Invaluable and easy perennials for the late summer border; their cheerful daisy flowers come in every shade of pink, blue, purple, red and white and in all sizes too. Full sun or part shade. I have never seen any of the asters listed below suffer from mildew!
amellus ‘Sonora’ - Large deep violet gold centred flowers, 2ft.
divaricatus - Dark centred white flowers, individually small, but in large clusters on dark, twiggy stems with dark green leaves. Shines out of dry shade, 2ft.
laevis ‘Calliope’ - Tall with near black stems and leaves. The very open lavender-blue flowers have yellow centres, very striking but easy, 4-5ft.
lateriflorus 'Lady in Black' - Excellent for foliage colour - the stems and narrow leaves are all deepest plum - with a froth of tiny pinky white flowers with red stamens. Very upright and well clothed stems. Once everywhere but not easy to find now. 4ft/1.2m
macrophyllus ‘Twilight’ - Large, simple single flowers, mid-blue, from upright stems in spreading clumps. Tolerant of shade and dry conditions, even under trees, 2ft.
- novae anglii 'Herbstschnee' - A tall white aster, the large flowers have yellow centres. 4-5ft / 1.2m
- novae anglii 'Wow' - Tall and striking with large heads of semi-double bright cerise pink flowers. A superb contrast to other autumn colours. 4ft / 1.2m
- novae belgii 'Porzellan' Lovely semi double flowers, a soft delft blue on dark plummy purple stems. A good mid-height aster. 3ft/80cm
- pyrenaeus 'Lutetia' Sturdy stems from a compact clump with widely spaced sprays of pale lilac blue flowers. The petals are really fine and with the slender leaves the whole effect is airy, elegant and not a hint of mildew! 2ft / 60cm
turbinellus - In contrast to other tall asters, this is an airy, thin-stemmed plant with slender leaves and all suffused with plummy/black. The quite large, single violet blue flowers are held in large open sprays. The whole plant exudes simple elegance - you can tell I like it a lot! 4ft - 1.2m
ASTRANTIA
The unusual starry flowers last for a long time and flowering continues throughout the summer. Newer cultivars bring darker red shades to the border, almost as deep as knautia macedonica, but astrantias prefer part shade and good moist soil to do their best.
major - ‘Gill Richardson Group’ - By far the best dark flowered astrantia I have ever grown. Tough, reliable and free flowering with dark red tinged glossy foliage, 2ft.
- 'Roma' - An interesting soft, deep pink colour, the large flowers appear over a long period as the plant does not set seed. 2ft / 60cm
- 'Shaggy' seedlings - The large green-tipped white flowers of 'Shaggy' are justly admired, but these seedlings are almost as good as the original, without the extraordinary pricetag. 2ft / 60cm.
BERGENIA
Bergenia have been overlooked in the past as plants best used when situation and soil dictate nothing else is worth growing. Now however with plants flowering from autumn to early summer, I feel they are well due another chance to star in good as well as bad areas of the garden.
‘Bressingham White’ – Early and reliable flowering. Pink tinged buds open to white flowers in upright sprays. 12ins / 30cm
BOLTONIA
asteroides var. latisquama – Looking like a grey-green leaved aster with its starry white flowers. Much more branching though, not subject to mildew and fabulously tall. 6ft / 2m
BRUNNERA
macrophylla ‘Betty Bowring’ - Really pretty white flowers set off by dark leaves brighten even the darkest shade, 12-18ins.
- ‘Jack Frost’ - a very choice and new cultivar. The regular heart-shaped leaves silver with green veins and a green edge - they look ‘netted’. Very dramatic and easy, 12ins.
- 'Mr Morse' The leaves of this brand new cultivar are as 'Jack Frost' but the flowers are white! Long flowering, the individual flowers are larger than other cultivars. 15in/40cm
- variegata - ideal for all those tricky areas where the sun never shines, the rain rarely penetrates and the soil is less than lovely. Sprays of very pretty blue forgetmenot flowers in spring, are followed by large heart-shaped leaves, heavily marked with creamy white, 12ins.