Dry Areas

'Chabaud Magenta' provides armfuls of magenta-violet, frilly double blooms with the spicy fragrance of clove. Pronounced shab-o, they were developed specifically for florists for use as a cut flower. With a heavenly scent, tall stems and an extremely long vase life.

Developed for florists for use as a cut flower, the super tall stems of Dianthus 'Chabaud La France' are topped with blooms in the most delicate shades of seashell pinks to creamy blush. They will provide a continuous harvest of blooms for cutting from the end of April until the end of September.

Boasting ruffled white petticoat-like blooms on strong stems, Dianthus 'Chabaud Jeanne Dionis' has the fullest of flowers. An ideal cut flower and perfect for wedding work, they will bloom all summer long from an early sowing.

From late spring through midsummer, the ruffled, sweetly fragrant blooms of Chabaud Carnations are displayed profusely on slender, sturdy stems. Deliciously coloured, and heavenly scented, the creamy white petals of Chabaud 'Benigna' are outlined with the fruitiest of plums and raspberry reds.

Developed for florists for use as a cut flower, the super tall stems of Dianthus 'Chabaud Aurora' display the most beautiful range of coral, salmon, blush, pink and cherry flowers. They will provide a continuous harvest of blooms for cutting from the end of April until the end of September.

Dianthus arenarius 'Little Maiden' is a super Dianthus for the rock, roof or fairy garden. The plants grow quite densely and grow only about 10cm high. Pure white, fragrant flowers with delicately fringed edges are held above compact symmetrical domes, tight little clumps that rock gardeners call buns.

Cosmos 'Purity' is a well-named newer hybrid, pure white large blooms on a plant that grows only 3 to 4 ft. tall. From June to October the large, graceful, saucer-shaped flowers are handsomely offset by the masses of mid-green feathery foliage. An excellent addition to the cutting garden.

Camomile is a most useful plant. It can be used to make beautiful lawns and raised beds, an infusion of the plant is an ideal family remedy, calming and sedative, perfect for restlessness or travel sickness, while for gardeners the tea is effective as a spray to prevent 'damping-off' of seedlings

'Snow in Summer' lives up to its name in late spring when the foliage is smothered in luminous white flowers. Beautiful used as a path edging, in a stone wall or cascading over containers. Try it amongst your spring bulbs - tall lily flowering tulips above a dense carpet of white Cerastium… Breathtaking!

Native to the meadows and woods of the mountains of Europe, Centaurea montana flowers from late spring with large flowers that are fringed in an intense violet-blue with deep purple centres and most attractive, very deeply cut petals. Easy to grow, it is an excellent garden plant as well as cut flower.

Persian Cornflower is an attractive clump forming cornflower, with bushy, branched plants and the unusual characteristic of being perennial and flowering in the first year. Very adaptable to both dry and moist locations. Large deep lavender-pink blooms adorn the divided foliage throughout summer.

Catananche caerulea 'Amor White' produces stunning blooms of white, star like flowers each with a dark purple-blue eye and unique papery petals. The blooms rise on single stems above neat clumps of grey-green foliage. Super when planted the border, they also make a wonderful, long lasting cut or dried flowers.

Catananche caerulea 'Amor Blue' is a charming plant, with blue, star like flowers each with a dark eye and unique papery petals. They look best when grown in groupings, rather than one or two plants and don’t mind crowding. Plant en-masse in prairie style or meadow plantings, mix them up a little with other hardy perennials and grasses.

Growing cacti is an addictive hobby and be much easier than commonly perceived. This premium cactus seed mix of a variety of species includes the famous and magnificent Saguaro Cactus. They germinate easily, grow slowly, but compared to many plants need relatively little care.

Aubrieta has long been treasured for its delightful spring show of brightly coloured flowers. ‘Whitewell Gem’ is smothered by large, intense reddish-purple flowers for several months. Lovely spilling out of crevices or over rock walls, the plants can also be used in paving with other ground hugging plants.

Commonly called ‘Rock Cress’, Aubrieta is a traditional rock garden plant that is lovely spilling out of crevices, growing over rock walls or placed in stonewalls. 'Leichtlinii' forms a low cushion of leaves that is, throughout the summer months, smothered by wonderful deep-carmine flowers.

Aubrieta 'Hendersonii' is a vigorous variety that is smothered by rich lilac-purple flowers for several months in spring. It grows to only 10 to 15cm tall at maturity, but with a spread of around 45cm it makes a lively edging to a sunny border, growing over rock walls or placed in stonewalls.

Asphodeline lutea is an easy to grow perennial that has great architectural form. The overall impression is distinctly upright, so it is good for adding vertical interest to the garden. In early summer leafy stems arise that bear dense, unbranched cylindrical spikes of gorgeous yellow, star-shaped flowers.

Artemisia stelleriana 'Mori's Strain' is a superior, dense, mat-forming selection. Uniquely shaped silver-white felted leaves with deeply divided, rounded lobes, it forms very attractive low mounds, giving an attractive ground-hugging carpet. Its foliage makes a wonderful foil for more colourful flowering plants.

Prized for its beautiful silvery foliage, the fine grey-white stems of Artemisia ludoviciana bear silvery-white leaves that are fragrant, fuzzy and soft. This finely textured plant adds a different element to the garden, the texture and leaf form setting them apart from those other garden plants with rather less refined foliage.