Border queens
on long stems look gorgeous in a vase, and ‘Claire de Lune’ (both 90cm tall), which has pale lemon, cup-shaped flowers with deep gold centres. Latecomer ‘Shirley Temple’ (85cm tall) produces clouds of ruffled, white flowers with hints of pink, in June and July.
Delphiniums will put on a heart-raising show in June and July. They thrive in sun, in any soil with good drainage, and if you deadhead and feed, they can repeat-flower in autumn. Ranging in height from 45cm to 2.4m, choose from spires of blue, purple, pink or white. ✣ For hardy plants with lots of blooms, look for the Elatum types, such as dazzling blue ‘Faust’, rose-pink ‘Sweethearts’ or beautiful pale mauve
‘Foxhill Nina’ (all 1.8m tall).