JULY PLANTS
With summer in full swing, Fleur is spoilt for choice when it comes to colourful blooms and luscious foliage, and shares one of her own new selections
SALVIA OMEIANA ‘CRÛG THUNDERCLOUD’
The combination of the large, yellow salvia flowers and deep-purple leaves is stunning – although only the back of the leaf has the deep-purple colour and you sometimes have to pull the plant apart to see the combination fully. Collected by Dan Hinkley on Mount Emei in the Sichuan Province of China, it becomes a large solid plant and preferably grows in fertile soil in the shade. You can sow the seed (it needs cold to germinate) but it might not always come back with the beautiful purple leaf colour. Far better to take cuttings or divide the clump. Height 70cm. Origin China. Conditions Fertile, well-drained soil; part shade. Hardiness RHS H7. Season of interest Summer to autumn.
ROSA ALDEN BIESEN (= ‘LENGRATI’)
This musk rose, selected by the Louis Lens rose nursery in Belgium, has elegant, light, hanging branches with large pyramidal clusters of single, pink flowers that turn from old rose to greenish pink. As the flowers grow older – or the weather gets colder – the petals are blushed with fiery, pink-red freckles, which makes it doubly exciting. The petals fall off very slowly, staying in place even in bad weather. Although it flourishes extremely easily don’t cut out too many clusters, because the oval red hips add additional interest in autumn. Can be used as a shrub or climbing rose. Height 2m. Origin Europe. Conditions Fertile, well-drained soil; full sun to part shade. Hardiness RHS H7. Season of interest Summer to autumn.
HOSTA ‘HIRAO MAJESTY’
Beneath each flower are large, soft-pink bracts that look like stars piled up on dark stems and are so spectacular they can surprise even the most seasoned hosta lover. The lavender-coloured flowers appear midsummer and stand out against a background of beautiful large, bright-green leaves with wavy edges. It is a tetraploid hosta, meaning it has four sets of chromosomes rather than the typical two. Tetraploid hostas tend to have firmer leaves with clearer markings that are more resistant to damage from slugs and can withstand the sun much better than normal diploids. Height 70cm. Origin Japan. Conditions Well-drained soil; part shade. Hardiness RHS H7. Season of interest Spring to summer.