Summer plants
TO ADD PIZZAZZ
1 Meadow cranesbill
Tough, easy to grow and charming to look at, Geranium pratense f. albiflorum has deeply divided leaves and pretty white flowers.
2 Iris ‘Papillon’
The fine markings on this iris make it stand out from the crowd; it looks especially good by water.
3 Geranium ‘Rozanne’
It’s no wonder this was voted Plant of the Century by the public at RHS Chelsea: it’s reliable and flowers for months in a lovely violet-blue.
4 Mexican fleabane
Erigeron karvinskianus is a perennial that produces a profusion of white daisy-like flowers tinged with pink. It will seed itself and flower for months over summer.
5 Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’
This showy, long-flowering daisy has prominent dark centres contrasting with copper-red petals.
6 Japanese forest grass
A great foil for other plants, Hakonechloa macra
is a fountain of emerald-green grass that lasts all summer, then bleaches to tobacco-brown.
7 Sea holly
With its spiky, silvery-green foliage and intense blue flower bracts, Eryngium x zabellii ‘Big Blue’ makes a real statement in a sunny border.
8 Rosa ‘Buff Beauty’
A warm apricot in colour, this is a real queen among repeat-flowering roses – it’s fragrant, too, with a tea rose scent. 9 Ammi majus
Sarah Raven describes this as “the best white filler foliage plant you can grow”. It has fernlike leaves and small, delicate flowers that resemble lacework.
10 Lavandula angustifolia
‘Folgate’ Bushy and reliable, this vibrant true purpleblue lavender variety with grey-green leaves is a stunner. It thrives in full sun and well-drained soil, and is a magnet for bees and butterflies.
11 Carthusian pink
Planted in a sunny place, Dianthus carthusianorum will reward you with tiny, long-lasting carminepink flowers that dance on tall stems above narrow grass-like foliage.
12 Bronze fennel
Foeniculum vulgare ‘Purpureum’ sports feathery bronze leaves and statuesque flower stems, which stand skeleton-like all winter to provide architectural presence in the garden.