Architectural

One of the grandest of plants, Euphorbia characias 'Wulfenii' has upright stems clothed with whorls of fleshy, mat grey-green leaves that lend the whole plant a textural quality that is unparalleled. From March to June the plants are topped with intense chartreuse-green flowers'.

Perennial sunflowers typically don’t grow quite as tall and large as their annual friends. However Helianthus maximiliani is a wonderful exception. It grows slowly through the summer months as a group of short stems, until late summer when the stems bolt and the flowers head for the sky.

Most gardeners are familiar with the annual sunflower, however, it is the perennial varieties that coexist most happily with other garden plants. Helianthus mollis is a lovely perennial with butter-yellow flowers. It grows 120cm tall and requires little more attention than an annual cutting to the ground.

Lupin 'Noble Maiden', occasionally called Fraülein, feature soft ivory white buds that open to pure clean white. The flowers open from the bottom up making for a longer blooming period. Stunning in the border or in a vase.

George Russell developed his Lupins aiming for, and achieving a central stalk or spike totally obscured by colourful flowers. 'The Governor' is one of the most popular from the series and features deep ultramarine blue blooms each with white flag.

Each small flower of Band of Nobles ‘Chandelier’ is a glorious shade of golden yellow, and the standard (the upper petal) is often a shade or two lighter. They have been bred for a long flowering period and give unbeatable garden performance.

The magnificent vertical stems of Lupin ‘My Castle’ produce vibrant red blooms bringing height and grandeur to summer borders. The intense colour of this robust variety makes a real statement when planted in drifts, or dotted among other perennials.

Bred for a long flowering period with unbeatable garden performance, George Russell developed one of the most popular and distinctive plants in history. Magnificent vertical stems of densely packed soft pink flowers each with a white flag. The Chatelaine’ provides that rare combination of power, poise and subtlety.

Few other grasses have such a great separation between foliage and flowers than Molinia caerulea ssp. arundinaceae. With clumps of arching, blue-green leaves above which the most slender stems and delicate see-through flowers grow to six foot or more. In autumn they turn golden yellow to deep copper.

Even people who aren’t familiar with ornamental grasses often know Muhlenbergia capillaris. With dramatic arching plumes of soft pink flowers reminiscent of headdresses worn by Vegas showgirls, a large planting of the wonderful Ruby Muhly Grass is enough to stop traffic.

Setaria italica Red Jewel is a rarely-offered variety of annual grass with intensely coloured burgundy red foliage and dramatic foxtail-shaped flower heads. Suitable for growing in the garden or in containers the dark foliage is a great contrast in the garden or the vase.

Thalictrum lucidum is a less well known species of meadow rue, it sports luscious deep green, fern-like foliage. In mid-summer the plant is festooned with a superb array of fragrant flower stems, topped with airy puffs of soft cream flowers each with bright yellow stamens.

As they say, white goes with everything and among theme gardens, the white garden may be the most popular. The White Garden Flower Mix gives a selection of spectacular, bright white annual flowers. Calm, soft and serene this beautiful mix will carry borders into early winter with panache.

Verbascum are a wonderful plant for making a garden feel uncontrived, producing masses of flowers without taking up lots of space on the ground. ‘White Blush’ is one of the most popular varieties. Growing to just 100cm, the dark crimson buds open to reveal large white flowers with deep purple stamens.

One look at this species of Verbascum and you will realise why it is also called ‘Arctic Summer’. Tall, white, fleecy flower stems emerge from felted evergreen leaves in early summer. Its stems and leaves are covered in a silvery down that gives it an appearance of being permanently covered with frost.

Verbascum ‘Snow Maiden’ is an incredibly beautiful mullein that grow to just 36 to 48cm tall. With masses of soft white flowers each with delicate yellow filaments they flower in June and continue to appear over a long summer, often right through to September. Very easy to grow from seed.

The poise of the lovely Verbascum phoeniceum 'Flush of White' makes this plant a natural candidate for the front of the border, even though its height might suggest, that it should go at the back. In summer winds, which snap off delphiniums and toss sunflowers awry, the Verbascum stands defiant.

English gardeners are very familiar with this plant and consider it essential for a well-structured garden. Verbascum phoeniceum 'Hybrids Mix' flower freely, giving a glorious plethora of colours from delicate salmon to rich claret. A true perennial which can flower the first year given an early sowing.