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What are your must-have plants?
Ok, so which plants, perennial or annual, could you not live without? They may be ones that have always done well in your garden or maybe they're a recent discovery that are your new faves.
I'll kick off with a few of mine, starting with Persicaria affinis 'Darjeeling Red'. This small bank below our patio doesn't get the sun until late afternoon (not at all in the winter months) and stays moist throughout. This plant is a serial spreader in the right conditions and all this display came from one plant. But that is just what we wanted here.
Each flower spike consists of a rather lovely inflorescence which you need to get down on your knees to truly appreciate. And boy is it popular with bees, especially as it flowers from late June through to November.
I discovered this one, Anthemis tinctoria 'E.C. Buxton' at Bluebell Cottage Garden (near Warrington) where it stood out proudly at the edge of a mixed bed. It was love at first sight and luckily they had some plants for sale at their nursery. It really likes the well-drained soil at the front of the house. This is the first plant I see when I step out of the car on the drive.
Well what can I say about this one? Can't imagine anyone not loving this plant - Astrantia major 'Roma'. It actually likes damp clay soil, which is handy for us as we've got a lot of it!
Now this one, Ursinia anethoides, is an annual, and the product of an impulse buy some 30 years ago when I liked the look of the seed packet, and we've grown it every year since. We love the profusion of 2.5" orange daisies atop wiry stems and ferny foliage. Amazingly you're unlikely to see it on the seed racks nowadays but we collect our own seed each year, enough to plant up several containers and give loads away.
I still remember buying my first Eryngium zabellii from Carol Klein at one of the shows way back when she had her own stall. I'd never seen one before and was gobsmacked. We've now got several varieties and can't imagine the garden without them. Popular with the bees as you can see.
And this is my latest fancy - Kniphofia 'Mango Popsicle'. We had some traditional 'red-hot pokers' in the garden when we moved here but these recent smaller ones with grassy foliage have really caught my eye.
So what have I missed? Well lots probably. Verbena bonariensis for a start, and Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster' my current favourite grass but I haven't taken any piccies of those yet.
Over to you
I'll kick off with a few of mine, starting with Persicaria affinis 'Darjeeling Red'. This small bank below our patio doesn't get the sun until late afternoon (not at all in the winter months) and stays moist throughout. This plant is a serial spreader in the right conditions and all this display came from one plant. But that is just what we wanted here.
Each flower spike consists of a rather lovely inflorescence which you need to get down on your knees to truly appreciate. And boy is it popular with bees, especially as it flowers from late June through to November.
I discovered this one, Anthemis tinctoria 'E.C. Buxton' at Bluebell Cottage Garden (near Warrington) where it stood out proudly at the edge of a mixed bed. It was love at first sight and luckily they had some plants for sale at their nursery. It really likes the well-drained soil at the front of the house. This is the first plant I see when I step out of the car on the drive.
Well what can I say about this one? Can't imagine anyone not loving this plant - Astrantia major 'Roma'. It actually likes damp clay soil, which is handy for us as we've got a lot of it!
Now this one, Ursinia anethoides, is an annual, and the product of an impulse buy some 30 years ago when I liked the look of the seed packet, and we've grown it every year since. We love the profusion of 2.5" orange daisies atop wiry stems and ferny foliage. Amazingly you're unlikely to see it on the seed racks nowadays but we collect our own seed each year, enough to plant up several containers and give loads away.
I still remember buying my first Eryngium zabellii from Carol Klein at one of the shows way back when she had her own stall. I'd never seen one before and was gobsmacked. We've now got several varieties and can't imagine the garden without them. Popular with the bees as you can see.
And this is my latest fancy - Kniphofia 'Mango Popsicle'. We had some traditional 'red-hot pokers' in the garden when we moved here but these recent smaller ones with grassy foliage have really caught my eye.
So what have I missed? Well lots probably. Verbena bonariensis for a start, and Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster' my current favourite grass but I haven't taken any piccies of those yet.
Over to you
Clay soil - Cheshire/Derbyshire border.
I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful
I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful
9
Posts
I think you are missing the winter plants. My must have plants are roses for half the year. For second half I love camellias and winter honeysuckle.
For me the most successful this year has been the penstemons. Bought as 9cm plants and planted out in the south-facing front garden in July. Now they've grown into bushy big plants and are still flowering. Slugs don't touch them which is the biggest merit!
Dahlias are of course another must-have, if I ignore the foliage munched by slugs and snails...
That's not to say that I wouldn't replace the flowers PDQ!
I have kniphofia mango but the slugs munched it so it in the greenhouse potted up recovering . I've looked at Anthemis Buxon numerous times can't make my mind up it will very likely collapse on my rich clay/ loamy soil and rot away in the winter .
I love persicaria as well my mine are the larger ones for the middle/back of the border. I've got several but think fat domino was the best this year.
Another plant that newish to me that I've only grown for 4-5 years but will probably always keep it now is buddleia globosa. It doesn't flower for long but when it does the bumblebees cover it. The bees also lover the lutea foxgloves.
I don't grow many annuals but tithonia, ammi majus & visnaga and cornflowers are things I do grow plus more sunflowers than I have room for.
Agree on Gaura. Lovely floaty flowers. We have 'the bride' in one bed with Verbena bonariensis and a couple of 'whirling butterflies' (a shorter variety) in other beds. But I had to buy new ones this year as last winter saw a couple off so of dubious hardiness in our garden.
Bought 'fat domino' this year. Seems to be doing rather well in quite a shady spot.
Another plant I wouldn't be without is Achillea 'Moonshine'. Just for its gorgeous rich yellow flat flowers which the pollinators love.
I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful