Herbaceous perennials
One plant I always love to see is the native and very widely distributed Malva sylvestris, or common mallow, which can be a weed, a wildflower or a gorgeous garden plant depending on your perspective! It will self-seed and pop up where it’s happiest in sunny, dry spots, even in very poor soils, making it a bit unpredictable but useful in areas where it can be difficult to garden. Flowers are pale purple with a deeper purple stripe and produced in abundance over long periods from early summer, often until the first frosts. It’s similar to the closely related lavatera and especially to the species of L. bicolor, which is woodier and a little taller, but no less beautiful.
Malva and lavatera are fairly short-lived perennials, which are better if trimmed up once or twice during the growing season to encourage fresh growth and a tidy habit. They all love sun and once established, grow well in poor, sharply drained and thin soils.
As well as plants like malva, a number of perennial phlox species
and varieties have striped flowers. Whether you like the low carpeting forms like the lilac and white ‘Candy Stripe’ or taller, mid-back of border plants like the pink striped ‘Peppermint Twist’, there are several stripey flowered forms to choose from. I find the taller forms difficult to partner with other plants in beds and borders as they’re so
strikingly two-tone, but this can be used to great effect in drawing a garden viewer to a spot where you want them to be seen. Although best in sun, phlox will take some light shade, although it’s often at the sacrifice of some flower volume. On the ground-covering side, to partner Phlox subulata varieties you could look to striped flowered forms of primula like the polyanthus variety ‘Zebra Blue’, which reminds me of Delftware pottery, or the gold, striped black flowers of viola ‘Sorbet Tiger Eye’. Both prefer a bright but not baking spot and to not be too dry.