This is a great month to admire herbaceous perennials with show many
show-stoppers.
Campanula glomerata. Vivid blue, tall spiky perennial flowers add strong early colour to an informal border.
Primula bulleyana. An orange that really punches in some colour amongst the ferns and hostas in damp shade.
Salvia nemorosa Caradonna. Everyone loves this tall purply blue spire of a salvia. It makes a border look polished. It must have good drainage, or it will not go through the winter.
Scabious. This repeatedly flowers, and I love its reliability. Scabious is often seen in the set aside growing with very little help in meadowy conditions, so it is not surprising many of the ornamental do well.
Trollius. Globe shaped butter cup flowers that grow well often by streams or in damp shade. Beautiful protruding stamens that remind me of the much smaller flowers on a hypericum shrub.
Geum. Firing away in hot colours we have Totally tangerine (a sterile hybrid) and Scarlet Tempest (An almost Chelsea show winner) amongst others. Always a mass of flower early in the season and can be encouraged to have a second flush. Give them a moist well drained sunny position.
Delphinium. We all love these showstoppers and this is what the experts told us to do on the Chelsea coverage. Plant with gravel under the roots for improved drainage and gravel also round the crown which may help prevent slugs. Put supports in. The Chelsea grower suggested string tied to cains to stop them flopping and weakening the stems. If the pant can drain, doesn’t flop about and the slugs can’t get it will grow magnificently in a sunny spot.
Digitalis/ Foxglove. Absolute winners in the cottage garden. Shade or partial shade. Take a look now at all the different types. Heights ranging from 35cm to 120cm,
Cirsium rivulare. An all-time favourite is this purple thistle in a deep red. It look great in so many planting schemes adding that much needed deep colour on a bright sunny border.
Erigeron karvinskianus. This is often called Mexican Flea Bane. Gorgeous tiny sun loving daisies that informally slip into lots of little crevasses in the garden and often self-seeding it’s self the following year.
