CHOOSE THE RIGHT PLANTS
Create the perfect pink border with phlox, monarda, persicaria and veronicastrum, says Helen Billiald
Phlox are the fragrant saviours of high summer. Just as the early rush of herbaceous plantings go past their peak, phlox strides on, with their plump, flower-packed domes of colour. Here it’s hazy pinks and purples that carry the baton – part of a palette of soft pastel shades that phlox really excel at.
All the plants in this border will keep flowering from July into autumn. Strong verticals come from slender spikes of lilac-blue veronicastrum and red persicaria, while the soft-pink spidery monardas echo the colour of the foreground phlox. Every flower here will bring butterflies and bees into your garden thanks to their pollen and nectar-rich flowers, so you’ll get a display of pollinators as well as a display of flowers. ➤ ‘Fascination’
Persicaria amplexicaulis ‘Firetail’ ‘Bright Eyes’
Phlox paniculata ‘Peacock Neon Purple’
PHLOX PANICULATA ‘BRIGHT EYES’
Lightly fragrant and strong stemmed, these soft pink flowers with a dark eye make excellent cut flowers. JulyOct. H90cm (3ft) S60cm (2ft)
PHLOX PANICULATA ‘PEACOCK NEON PURPLE’
Compact bushy phlox with vivid purple scented flowers and good resistance to powdery mildew. July-Sept. H60cm (2ft) S45cm (18in)
MONARDA ‘BEAUTY OF COBHAM’
Pale pink spidery flowers over a ruff of dark purple bracts with mint-scented foliage. Adored by bees. June-Aug. H90cm (3ft) S45cm (18in)
VERONICASTRUM VIRGINICUM ‘FASCINATION’
Tall branching spikes of lilac-blue flowers providing plenty of nectar for pollinators. July-Sept. H1.2m (4ft) S60cm (2ft)
PERSICARIA AMPLEXICAULIS ‘FIRETAIL’
Narrow bottle brushes of crimsonpink flowers on wiry stems above vigorous, spreading foliage. Flowers July-Oct. H1.2m (4ft) S90cm (3ft)