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Perennials, Ferns and Grasses
Achillea 'Terracotta'
A tall perennial forming a clump of feathery grey-green leaves, with flat sprays of deep yellow flowers which fade to cream.
Agapanthus 'Black Buddhist'
A deciduous, clump-forming herbaceous perennial with strap-shaped mid-green leaves and sturdy stems producing umbels of dark purple-blue trumpet-shaped flowers, with a darker mid rib down each petal.
Agapanthus 'Blue Umbrella'
An evergreen herbaceous perennial that forms clumps of green strap-like leaves and rounded flower heads of cobalt blue tubular flowers in summer reaching approximately 140cm.
Agapanthus 'Polar Ice'
A clump-forming herbaceous perennial, to about 70cm high, with mid-green, strap-like leaves and with erect stems bearing rounded umbels of white, trumpet-shaped flowers from mid-summer to early autumn.
A-Z
Over the last 15 years, I have spent a great deal of time curating a group of plants that are high impact and low intervention. Of course, they do require a tidy up from time to time, but give a great deal of 'bang' for their 'buck'. Once your design is built by a trusted landscaper, I like to return and provide you with a Planting Quotation for the final stage of your garden creation. Below you will find photographs and details of some of the favourite plants that I like to use to help you to navigate and complement your Planting Quotation.
Alchemilla mollis
An herbaceous perennial forming a clump of softly hairy, light green leaves with scalloped and toothed edges. Small, bright yellow flowers are borne in large sprays just above the foliage.
Anemone 'Honorine Jobert'
An herbaceous perennial with dark, divided leaves and pure white flowers borne in August and September with 6-9 tepals and contrasting yellow stamens.
Anemone 'Prinz Heindrich'
An herbaceous perennial with attractively divided leaves and semi-double flowers with 10-15 narrow, overlapping, deep rose-pink tepals borne in August and September.
Angelica 'Vicar's Mead'
Upright purple stems and divided leaves, with large, rounded pink/purple umbellifera flower heads in late summer to autumn.
Artemisia 'Valerie Finnis'
A herbaceous perennial forming clumps of lance-shaped, usually coarsely toothed leaves, vividly white when young. Works brilliantly within gravel or in a drought tolerant garden.
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Asplenium scolopendrium
An evergreen fern forming a rosette of arching, rich green, strap-shaped fronds 30-75cm in length, the margins often undulate. Spores borne in conspicuous transverse stripes beneath the fronds.
Aster frikartii 'Monch'
A bushy herbaceous perennial with dark foliage and yellow-centred, lavender-blue daisies 5cm across borne in late summer into autumn.
Astrantia 'Snow Star'
A herbaceous perennial, to 80cm tall, with deeply-divided leaves. Branched stems bear large, pincushion heads of white flowers, surrounded by green-tipped white bracts, from early to late summer.
Astrantia major
An erect, clump-forming perennial with scarcely 3-5-lobed leaves, and flower stems to 60cm, bearing flower heads in stalked, compound umbels. Clusters of tiny, whitish-green flowers are surrounded by petal-like bracteoles which are whitish, tinged with green and pink, with conspicuous veining.
Blechnum spicant
A neat, tufted evergreen fern to 50cm, with spreading, narrow, dark green, simply pinnate sterile fronds and erect fertile fronds with linear pinnae.
Brunnera 'Jack Frost'
A perennial grown for its large, heart-shaped silver leaves edged and veined with green, and sprays of small blue flowers in spring.
Carex 'Frosted Curls'
An evergreen perennial creating a mop-head of very slender, shimmering, silvery-green leaves.
Carex 'Kiwi'
Dense, clump-forming, evergreen perennial sedge, about 40cm tall, with fine-textured, arching, light green leaves. Produces stems bearing light brown flower spikes which grow to 1m long as the red-brown seedheads mature in late summer.
Cyrtomium fortunei
An evergreen fern with erect 'shuttlecocks' of pinnate fronds to 1.2m tall, with about 20 pairs of narrowly sickle-shaped, dull green leaflets.
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Dianthus carthusianorum
An evergreen perennial with lax to erect stems, to 50cm or more, rising from a woody base. Leaves are linear, dark green, clustered and numerous at the base, paired at the nodes on the flower stems. Flowers many, in rather dense terminal clusters, opening from leathery bracts. Usually reddish magenta, throughout the summer.
Dryopteris 'Brilliance'
An evergreen fern with bronze-coloured new fronds in spring and particularly bright orange-red ripe spores on the undersides of the leaves in autumn.
Echinacea 'White Swan'
A perennial with narrowly oval leaves and flowerheads to 10cm wide, with drooping white rays and an orange-brown central cone.
Echinacea purpurea 'Magnus'
A perennial with narrowly oval leaves and flowerheads to 10cm wide, with drooping deep pink rays and an orange-brown central cone.
Echinops 'Platinum Blue'
An upright herbaceous perennial with silvery-green, thistle-like leaves. Metallic-blue, spherical flower heads are borne on tall, branched, silvery stems in late summer.
Erigeron karvinskianus
A perennial forming wide mats to 15cm in height, with narrow, hairy leaves and daisy-type flower-heads 15mm in width, opening white but soon turning pinkish-purple.
Erysimum 'Bowles Mauve'
A bushy evergreen perennial to 75cm, with narrow, dark grey-green leaves and erect racemes of rich mauve flowers 2cm in width.
Euphorbia martinii
A dwarf, evergreen sub-shrub, with dark red stems bearing narrow, grey-green leaves flushed red in winter. Open sprays of lime green flowers, with red eyes, are produced in late spring and early summer.
Euphorbia mellifera
A dome-shaped evergreen shrub with narrow, bright green leaves with a pale mid-vein, and honey-scented, brownish flower-heads in late spring.
Euphorbia purpurea
A softly downy evergreen perennial with deep purple stems and leaves, and contrasting lime-green flowers opening at the ends of the leafy stems in spring and early summer.
Euphorbia robbiae
A spreading evergreen perennial, forming colonies of rosettes of oblong, dark green leaves from which arise large rounded sprays of yellow-green flowers.
Euphorbia wulfenii
An erect, sparsely-branched medium-sized sub-shrub with oblong, grey-green leaves and large, rounded heads of greenish-yellow flowers opening at the ends of the leafy stems in spring and early summer.
Festuca 'Elijah Blue'
A grass that forms small cushions of very fine, inrolled, intensely ice-blue leaves, becoming greener in winter. From late spring to summer it bears narrow, bristly blue-green flower plumes that turn golden-brown.
Geranium 'Rozanne'
A vigorous spreading perennial, with neat, dense, lobed, marbled and flecked mid-green leaves and saucer-shaped violet-blue flowers 5cm wide, veined purple, with a white centre, opening from early summer to early autumn. Shortlisted for the Chelsea Plant of the Centenary for the decade 1993-2002, and winner of the public vote.
Geum 'Totally Tangerine'
A peachy-orange flowered cultivar noted for its long flowering season from late spring to autumn. Crepe paper double flowers borne on tall, airy stems.
Helleborus niger
A semi-evergreen perennial to 30cm, with pedately lobed, leathery, dark green leaves and 1-3 pure white or pink-flushed white, bowl-shaped flowers up to 8cm in width.
Heuchera 'Plum Pudding'
A compact clump of lobed, deep beetroot-purple dusted with silvery-grey, and slender stems to 60cm bearing white flowers on small upright stems.
Hosta 'Blue Mouse Ears'
A small, mounded perennial with smooth, neat, blue-green leaves with a dull surface. The bell-shaped, 2cm-long flowers are pale purple with darker stripes.
Hosta 'El Ninho'
A small, mounded perennial that produces deep blue-green leaves with a crispy white margin. Lavender bell-shaped flowers appear on tall stems in July.
Hosta 'Krossa Regal'
A robust herbaceous perennial making a large clump of ovate, grey-blue to green leaves 20cm long, with impressed veins, with bell-shaped pale purple flowers on upright stems reducing the risk of slug and snail damage.
A clump-forming perennial with narrow foliage and stems to 1m, bearing up to 4 flowers with rich blue standards finely edged white, and deeper blue falls with a dark violet tinge, edged with white, and yellowish white at the base.
Iris 'Silver Edge'
Lavandula 'Hidcote'
A bushy dwarf evergreen shrub with narrow, silvery-grey leaves and small deep violet-purple flowers in dense, aromatic spikes 3-4cm in length.
Luzula nivea
A slowly spreading evergreen perennial forming a loose clump of narrow, dark green leaves to 30cm long, with lax clusters of small, shiny white flowers in early and mid-summer.
Miscanthus 'Morning Light'
A compact deciduous perennial grass with narrow leaves finely edged with white, and pink-tinged panicles of flowers in autumn.
Muhlenbekia complexa
A deciduous climber or trailer, forming dense masses of slender, wiry, much interlaced stems. Dark green leaves are small, to 2cm long, variable in shape (roundish, heart-shaped, oblong and fiddle-shaped). Flowers greenish, borne in small terminal and axillary spikes in autumn.
Nepeta 'Walker's Low'
Has attractive colouring, the flowers being blue-mauve, the leaves silvery and aromatic, and the stems dark. Comes into flower in early summer, and will continue into autumn if flushes are deadheaded. It is variable in habit according to growing conditions, and can make a tight mound to 60cm in height in poor soils, or in richer ground grow to 90cm and be more sprawling.
Pachysandra terminalis
An evergreen sub-shrub forming a mat to 15cm in height, of glossy dark green, coarsely toothed obovate leaves to 7cm in length, with erect spikes of small white flowers in early summer.
Paeonia 'Sarah Bernhardt'
An herbaceous perennial to 90cm with divided foliage, erect stems bearing fragrant, rose-pink double flowers 20cm in width, with ruffled inner petals.
Penstemon 'Blackbird'
An upright semi-evergreen perennial, with narrowly lance-shaped leaves on reddish stems, and terminal racemes of slender tubular, reddish-purple flowers that are prolific through the whole summer and early autumn period.
Penstemon 'Garnet'
A bushy semi-evergreen perennial to 90cm in height, with narrow, dark green foliage and erect racemes of tubular bell-shaped, deep wine-red flowers 3cm in length that are prolific through the whole summer and early autumn period.
Penstemon 'Ruby Red'
A bushy semi-evergreen perennial to 90cm in height, with narrow, dark green foliage and erect racemes of tubular bell-shaped, deep wine-red flowers 3cm in length that are prolific through the whole summer and early autumn period.
Perovskia 'Blue Spire'
An erect small deciduous sub-shrub, with white stems bearing deeply-divided, aromatic greyish leaves. Small violet-blue flowers in large plumy panicles in late summer and autumn. Silver stems provide interest throughout autumn and winter before being cut back in the early spring.
Persicaria 'Blackfields'
A compact, clump-forming perennial with dark green, oval to heart-shaped leaves to 10cm long. Long-stalked, narrow spikes of dark blood-red flowers open from almost black buds from mid-summer to mid-autumn.
Polystichum polyblepherum
An evergreen fern forming a 'shuttlecock' of spreading, glossy dark green, bipinnate fronds; attractive young fronds yellowish-green, more erect and covered with hair-like golden scales.
Rheum palmatum tanguticum
A perennial with large basal leaves that emerge from the ground in late spring. Leaves are jagged and deeply cut, and dark reddish-purple when young, maturing to deep green with red undersides and long, thick reddish stems. In summer, tall, branching flower stems bear upright clusters of tiny, densely packed flowers in shades of white, pink or deep red.
Salvia 'Caradonna'
A perennial cultivar with upright racemes of violet- purple flowers through the summer above narrow, rough, grey-green leaves. Deep purple upright stems provide increased interest through the flowering season.
Sanguisorba 'Pink Tanna'
An herbaceous perennial, with pinnate leaves composed of many finely toothed dark green leaflets, and above them slender stems carrying deep pink bottlebrush-like flowerheads with pale pink stamens, from summer to early autumn.
Sedum 'Autumn Joy'
An herbaceous perennial forming a clump, with fleshy, oblong, glaucous green leaves and large flat terminal clusters of starry flowers in early autumn. The flowers open from greenish-pink buds, rapidly progressing through pale pink to become deep pink and ultimately taking on a brownish hue.
Sedum 'Dark Magic'
A clump-forming, deciduous perennial, with erect stems bearing fleshy, glossy purple-black leaves. Small, dark pink star-shaped flowers are produced in dense clusters in late summer and early autumn.
Sedum 'Red Sparkle'
A compact, mound-forming, succulent, deciduous perennial with upright stems bearing rounded to broadly ovate, toothed, purple-flushed, grey to grey-green leaves and clusters of star-shaped, reddish-pink flowers in late summer into autumn.
Selinum wallichianum
A clump-forming perennial with large, triangular, 2 to 3-pinnate leaves and large umbels of white flowers in summer and autumn.
Stachys 'Silver Carpet'
A vigorous evergreen carpeting perennial, grown for its dense mat of grey-white elliptic leaves to 10cm long which forms a striking ground cover.
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Stipa gigantea
A robust tufted evergreen grass, with arching linear green leaves and large panicles of oat-like, long-awned purplish flowers which ripen to gold.
Stipa tenuissima
A deciduous grass forming a compact upright tuft of thread-like leaves, with narrow, arching, feathery flowering panicles in summer
Thalictrum 'Blizzard'
A dainty, airy perennial with ternately or pinnately divided, attractive foliage, and panicles or racemes of small flowers with showy yellow stamens and clusters of small white flowers.
Thalictrum delaveyi
A dainty, airy perennial with ternately or pinnately divided, attractive foliage, and panicles or racemes of small flowers with showy yellow stamens contrasting with the pale purple outer petals.
Thymus 'Silver Queen'
A bushy dwarf evergreen shrub, with small, ovate, dark green leaves edged with creamy-white, and clusters of tiny pale mauve flowers in summer.
Tiarella 'Iron Butterfly'
A lovely groundcover perennial, to 40cm high in flower, forming a mound of deeply lobed green leaves with maroon-coloured markings along the veins. Small, starry white flowers open from pale pink buds, held on upright stems above the foliage in spring.
Verbena bonariensis
A tall herbaceous perennial with erect, branching stems to 2m in height, bearing sparse, oblong leaves and numerous branched clusters of small, purple flowers from summer to autumn.
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