Plant Information

Plant Ideas & Information.

We will continue to add to this section as we grow information about all types of plants. Your participation and suggestions will be reviewed and possibly included for all to share. We will make certain information available as fact sheets.

Topiary

Many different varieties of shrub are suitable for creating shapes. Some are obviously better than others for topiary shapes such as Yew (Taxus Baccata), Box (Buxus Sempervirens) and Lonicera Nitida.

Others such as the herb Rosemary (Rosmarinus Officinalis) can be shaped into cones and rounded domes or balls. I regularly cut my Forsythia Lynwood into a rounded ball after flowering each year to keep it compact.

If you wish to use wire frames as templates then even some small leaved Ivies are great for making your own sculptures either in flower borders, planters or stand-alone garden features.

Wonderfully silvery grey toothed foliage on a statuesque Cynara (artichoke) growing on the top of a dry-stone Cotswold wall. This will produce huge purple thistle-shaped flowers later in the year if the heads are not picked for eating. I love the heads lightly boiled in a little water and served with butter. Peel the outer sections away until you get to the fibrous "choke" which you should discard.

Striking blue flowers on the hairy leaves and stems of annual Borage set off against the contrasting yellow green of Oregano aureum. Try using the Borage flowers in salad for decoration or freeze in ice cubes in drinks for fun in the Summer (Mind how you swallow them though).

Campanula portschenko seems to grow virtually anywhere in our garden. It flowers virtually all year round with the milder winters. It grows in cracks and crevices in our brickwork and cracks in concrete or around drain covers. The pretty deep blue bell flowers make a cheerful sight even on dull days.

Coreopsis Verticilliata Moonbeam is the paler creamy yellow and the brighter more vivid yellow is that of Zagreb. Both have wonderful fine cut feathery foliage and when they are in flower in the autumn the evening light glows from the flowers.

A tortoiseshell butterfly enjoys sipping nectar from our garlic chives flowers and then visits the golden oregano for more.

HEBE Purple Queen has gorgeous dark green and aubergine tinged glossy leaves. The flowers spring out of the tips of the main stems and are both sweetly scented and a deep mauve colour that stands out in the garden.

This HIBISCUS hides behind our yew hedge on the North-east side. This means that it is sheltered from our prevailing westerly winds. It flowers prolifically every year and needs regular pruning to keep it back in size each year.

TROLLIUS or Globe Flower prefers damp loamy soil really. This one is currently struggling in a pot. Even the HELENIUMS Moerheim Beauty behind it managed to flower with a minimum of attention.

Beside our garden greenhouse before it was broken in the winter winds. These SPIRAEA Gold Mound had grown out of their pots and through into the weedscreen membrane under them. They still managed to put on a great show each year and I eventually found a clients garden to plant them out into for immediate effect.

I find that Salvias can be rather tender. These are varieties "Mai Nacht" the dark purple on the left and "East Friesland" the White on the right. Both in pots, but I haven't seen any shoots yet this year.

On holiday in The Isle of Wight, I spotted Verbena Bonariensis being used as a light screen in conjunction with Echinops ritro to great colour and effect between two areas of a garden.