October

Delphinium 'Black Knight' produces gorgeous spires that are laden with intensely coloured deep purple flowers. Bloom the first year from an early sowing, these dark-eyed delphiniums are stunning when planted in bold clumps in the garden and are one of the most spectacular cut flowers you can grow.

Astolat is a rare and unusual colour. This stunning delphinium blooms with spires of soft blush to deep rose-pink flowers. Gorgeous in the vase or planted in bold clumps for a dramatic statement in the garden. Benary's Pacific is a premium strain of this gorgeous variety that will bloom the first year from an early sowing.

The Delphinium Fountains series is a vigorous-growing strain that is more heat tolerant and less fussy than most other varieties and if sown early will flower in the current year. Blooming is consistent from June to September, the sturdy flower spikes are very attractive to pollinators and make a wonderful cut flower.

Delphinium 'Pure White Fountains' is an elegant delphinium with densely packed flower spires of pure white blooms. The Fountains series is a vigorous-growing strain that if sown early will flower in the current year. The sturdy flower spikes are very attractive to bees and make a wonderful cut flower.

The Fountains series is a vigorous-growing strain that is more heat tolerant and less fussy than most other varieties and if sown early will flower in the current year. Delphinium 'Magic Fountains Lilac Pink' is an elegant delphinium with densely packed flower spires, each bloom has a white bee.

The Magic Fountains series is a delightful delphinium that grows 75 to 90cm tall. The plants have a good compact habit and because of their short stature and healthy thick stems, does not require staking. 'Magic Fountains Lavender' is a a gorgeous lavender, each bloom has a white centre, called the 'bee'.

The Fountains series is a vigorous-growing strain that if sown early will flower in the current year. Delphinium 'Magic Fountains Dark Blue' has densely packed spires of dark blue flowers each with a dark bee. It is ideal for borders and can be grown as a container plant.

Delphinium 'Magic Fountains Cherry Blossom' is an elegant delphinium with densely packed flower spires of large, semi-double blooms. In a gorgeous vintage shade of dusky, cherry-blossom pink, each bloom has a white centre known as the 'bee'. The sturdy spikes are very attractive to bees and make a wonderful cut flower.

Cyperus alternifolius is a very popular both as a house plant and pond plant. The bracts are symmetrically arranged in an umbrella formation and held atop elegant stems that sway with the breeze, giving a tropical touch to the garden. They are also excellent when used in fresh or dried floral arrangements.

What gardener with a heart and soul could resist the spring flowers of Corydalis, whose winged petals with upswept spurs suggest a flight of elfin butterflies. These woodland ephemerals are highly useful at the front of the border, with miniature bulbs such as crocus, muscari or scillas.

Dazzling gold stripes on mahogany-brown petals mark each bloom as unique on this very free-flowering, semi-double Coreopsis. Irresistible to butterflies but left alone by deer and untroubled by heat, humidity, and drought, this carefree beauty self-sows freely, going from seed to bloom in just 12 weeks.

Dazzling gold stripes on mahogany-brown petals mark each bloom as unique on this very free-flowering, semi-double Coreopsis. Irresistible to butterflies but left alone by deer and untroubled by heat, humidity, and drought, this carefree beauty self-sows freely, going from seed to bloom in just 12 weeks.

Actaea simplex 'Atropurpurea' is an exceptionally beautiful selection, valued for its large Astilbe-like leaves of purple black. Its dark hue makes a wonderful backdrop for colourful foliage and flowering shade plants. In late summer, long, fluffy spires in pale pinkish-white, rise above the dark foliage.

Actaea cordifolia comes into its own late in the season, when multiple stiff and stout stems emerge from the base of the plant. It displays impressive long racemes of chalky-white blooms that are composed of numerous, tiny individual star-like, fragrant flowers.

'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.

Centaurea macrocephala is a magnificent perennial that ideal for providing vertical interest in a sunny, well-drained herbaceous border. The golden-yellow shaggy thistle-like blooms are on strong stems and mid-green, lance-shaped leaves are followed by attractive seed heads.

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.

Today cornflowers are rare in the wild, they flourish instead in our gardens. They are the most splendid of annuals. Aside from their electric blue, which is breathtaking when they're grown in dense drifts, they are easy to grow, they flower all summer, make great cut flowers and bees adore them.

Cornflowers are great plants for the cutting garden or border, and this fine cultivar is no exception. Centaurea 'White Boy' is a double flowered cultivar with wonderful fluffy, white flowers on densely branched upright plants. This is the white member of the series which is also known as White Ball and Snowman