Penstemon ‘Thorn’ is an upright perennial with loose panicles of tubular white flowers tinged with deep pink at the tips of the lobes Flowering late summer early autumn. Evergreen. Frost tolerant and only needing occasional watering in the hottest of summer periods. Read more about Penstemon ‘Thorn’
We grow this in our dry garden where its silver leaves and whorls of yellow claw like flowers are handsome the year round. We cut it back halfway during winter to keep it tidy. It flowers on new wood from spring until autumn. Read more about Phlomis grandiflora ‘Lloyds Variety’
Lambley imported this beautiful evergreen shrub from Olivier Filippi’s nursery in the South of France. A hybrid between P. fruticosa and P. longifolia it is one of the showiest plants in the genus. Read more about Phlomis ‘Le Sud’
The Phlomis include some of the best evergreen shrubs for Australian gardens. This is a superb species with rich green leaves. Deep egg yolk yellow flowers open from russet-olive buds in whorls along the vertical flower stems. P. Read more about Phlomis longifolia
A rare and beautiful Phlomis from the region of the Judean mountains in Israel. Handsome evergreen foliage, hairy silver beneath and grey above with whorls of quite deep yellow claw-like flowers which are produced over a long period from spring into summer. Read more about Phlomis platystegia
A fabulous form of this native grass with arching mounds of evergreen foliage, blue and graceful. Typical upright stems of flowers bluish in bud ageing to straw. Cut back to about 15cm immediately after flowering. 100cm x 100cm. Sun or at most very light shade. Read more about Poa labillardieri ‘Suggan Buggan ’
Ten years ago we raised more than a thousand seedlings from crosses we had made between several Rhodanthemum species and cultivars. We were trying to develop cultivars which were more compact and less brittle than older varieties. We also wanted the flowers to be carried well above the foliage mounds. The seedlings were rowed out into a nursery field and watched for several years before three were selected for further appraisal. Read more about Atlas Mountain Daisies, Rhodanthemum
Named after my late younger sister who battled breast cancer for ten years before she died. Her fine London garden was a great solace during those difficult years. Neat mounds of grey-green fern-like foliage carry white dark centred daisies. Read more about Rhodanthemum ‘Maureen’
This dwarf, neat, silver-grey foliaged shrub is long lived and needs very little attention. It has perfectly formed white, dark eyed daisies from spring until autumn. This newly imported plant from the UK is one of the best small growing silvers I have come across. Read more about Rhodanthemum ‘African Eyes’
This fine South African Salvia makes a handsome, dense evergreen metre tall shrub well dressed in silvery green leaves. The flowers, which are produced in waves throughout spring summer and autumn, are yellow when they first open but soon turn a unique golden brown. Read more about Salvia aurea
'Boundary Creek' was a seedling found in a northeast Victorian garden and while the full parentage is unclear it is thought to include the South African, Salvia scabra with its distinctive leaf form and texture. Read more about Salvia ‘Boundary Creek’
‘Santa Barbara’ is such a good plant, neater than other varieties, making a rounded shrubby plant, some 80cm x 90cm. It carries vertical spikes of deep mauve flowers during late summer and autumn over grey-green foliage. A drought tolerant plant for sun or light shade. Read more about Salvia leucantha ‘Santa Barbara’ PBR
We imported this from Olivier Filippi’s nursery in the South of France. It has all the virtues of the species and carries long stems of soft salmon-pink, cream throated flowers which age over time to a creamy peach-pink. Read more about Salvia microphylla ‘Ribambelle’
Another superb European import soundly frost tolerant in all Australian districts. German bred plant with many spikes of amethyst pink flowers set in purple calyces. When they fade we cut them to the ground and are rewarded with another display from late summer to winter. Read more about Salvia nemorosa ‘Pink Friesland’
An import from Europe with particularly elegant spikes of rich violet-blue flowers enclosed in persistent purple bracts. The first flush of flowers is in the spring and early summer. Read more about Salvia nemorosa ‘Tanzarin’
A German bred plant which I bought from Beth Chatto’s beautiful nursery in the UK and brought through Australia's stringent quarantine requirements. Salvia ‘Viola Klose’ is a relatively dwarf plant with spikes of the darkest violet blue flowers. Read more about Salvia nemorosa ‘Viola Klose’
‘Purple and Bloom’ is a terrific addition to our range of Salvias. Its papal purple flowers emerge from near black calyces and are carried on black stems. Dark green fragrant foliage and a rounded bushy habit adds to the splendour. Read more about Salvia ‘Purple and Bloom’
Very drought tolerant, this is another fine plant which we imported from Olivier Filippi’s famous nursery in the south of France and brought back through Australian quarantine. Read more about Santolina magonica
Santolina ‘Edward Bowles’ makes a low tidy evergreen shrubby mound of finely feathered greyish green leaves. During summer the whole plant is smothered by the loveliest pale lemon lacy buttons. A very drought tolerant plant that needs nothing more than a hot sunny spot. Read more about Santolina neapolitana ‘Edward Bowles’
Santolina ‘Lemon Fizz’ makes a stunning rounded, evergreen shrub some 50cm tall by as much across with striking lemon-yellow foliage. Lemon billy-button flowers are carried well above the foliage in late spring and early summer. Read more about Santolina rosmarinifolia ‘Lemon Fizz’
A vigorous South African evergreen perennial which will soon make a mound of large, hairy leaves, During spring and summer tall stems carry large, mauve pin cushion flowers some 5cm in diameter. It makes a great garden plant and a good cut flower. Read more about Scabiosa africanus
The best of all the taller growing Sedum. Handsome the year round it makes 90cm or more tall stiff maroon stems clothed with waxy blue leaves. Read more about Sedum ‘Matrona’
There can’t be a finer berried shrub than this when it’s in full autumn glory. Masses of deep pink, almost red berries, make such a spectacular display that visitors to the garden invariably rave about it. Read more about Euonymus europeus ‘Red Cascade’
Crepe Myrtles will flower even during the hottest summers they are so tough. ‘Hopi’ is a relatively dwarf variety growing 2 metres tall by 3 metres wide. During summer and early autumn it is covered by large clusters of deep pink flowers. Read more about Lagerstroemia indica x faurii ‘Hopi’
We grow this in our dry garden where its silver leaves and whorls of yellow claw like flowers are handsome the year round. We cut it back halfway during winter to keep it tidy. It flowers on new wood from spring until autumn. Read more about Phlomis grandiflora ‘Lloyds Variety’
Lambley imported this beautiful evergreen shrub from Olivier Filippi’s nursery in the South of France. A hybrid between P. fruticosa and P. longifolia it is one of the showiest plants in the genus. Read more about Phlomis ‘Le Sud’
A rare and beautiful Phlomis from the region of the Judean mountains in Israel. Handsome evergreen foliage, hairy silver beneath and grey above with whorls of quite deep yellow claw-like flowers which are produced over a long period from spring into summer. Read more about Phlomis platystegia
Viburnum awabuki is a handsome evergreen foliage plant with glossy deep green leaves 8 to 12 cm long and 2-4cm wide. It makes a good hedging or screening plant and tolerates a fair bit of shade. It is also quite drought tolerant when once established. Read more about Viburnum awabuki
Viburnum x burkwoodii is a great doer in our garden and grows well even if we neglect to water it. It has made a 2.5 metres tall by 2 metres wide shrub in 25 years. During late winter it smothers itself in round heads of sweetly scented, pink budded flowers. Read more about Viburnum x burkwoodii
This Award of Garden Merit plant is one of the most spectacular of all spring flowering shrubs. Naked arching stems are smothered from top to bottom with a myriad of small white flowers. Whilst best grown in full sun it will also grow in light shade. Read more about Spiraea thunbergia
The day one time SBS garden presenter Costa visited Lambley the temperature hit 44C. One plant which astonished him and which his crew filmed was this Verbascum. A Turkish endemic, in its first year V. splendidum makes an enormous silver-white rosette, some 150cm across. Read more about Verbascum splendidum
