Raised by one (perhaps the only one) of my horticultural heroes, the late Alan Bloom, Achillea ‘Anthea’ is a seriously good plant. From a tidy clump of greyish leaves, stiff upright leafy stems carry flat heads of soft yellow flowers. Read more about Achillea ‘Anthea’
The best of the yellow flowered yarrows first sold during the year of the Queen’s coronation. It makes well behaved evergreen mounds of feathery grey leaves. Read more about Achillea ‘Coronation Gold’
When Criss and I were last in England we went to Wisley. The Achillea trials were being held in Portsmouth Field next to M25. The roar of the traffic was so awful that we nearly turned back before we got to the trials. Read more about Achillea ‘Credo’
Ageratum houstonianum, making up to 90cm tall. Masses of true blue powder puff like flowers appear through the warmer months until the first frost. Sun and some summer watering required. Read more about Ageratum houstonianum
A superb variety of shade loving groundcover. Its evergreen glossy dark purple almost black foliage makes a dense carpet in any shady spot which doesn’t parch during summer. Showy spikes of deep blue flowers on 25 cm tall stems are produced in spring. Read more about Ajuga ‘Black Scallop’
This Manzanita can be kept clipped to a metre tall, or allowed to become a 2m shrub. Producing pure white lily-of-the-valley flowers during late winter spring. Rarely offered in Australia. Drought tolerant when established and will grow happily in sun or light shade. Read more about Arctostaphylos densiflora ‘Howard McMinn’
Rarely seen in Australian nurseries and growing a mere 15cm tall but spreading up to 150cm, this Californian native makes a dense carpet of small dark green leathery leaves. Read more about Arctostaphylos uva-ursi ‘Green Bay’
This fine new selection of the classic groundcover forms low evergreen mats of small grey-green foliage and is smothered by large white flowers during spring. Excellent grown in a sunny spot in front of roses and other shrubs or in a rock garden or just used as a groundcover. Read more about Arenaria montana ‘Avalanche’
With larger flowers than other varieties this new cultivar forms a compact mound of blue-green foliage. Armeria are exceptionally long flowering perennials topped with masses of globe shaped flowers for much of the year. Read more about Armeria ‘Big Dreams’
Masses of lilac pink flowers on slender stems add a profusion of colour to a perennial border from late summer. Much loved by a wealth of pollinators in our gardens wanting just a little irrigation through the hottest part of summer. 90cm x 60cm Read more about Aster novi-belgii ‘Coombe Fishacre’
