Bred by Dennis Norgate, this poker features deep orange flowers which fade to a salmon colour as they mature. The months of summer blooms make it a very desirable selection. A fully frost-hardy and drought tolerant sun-loving perennial. 120cm x 100cm
This Kniphofia has coral-pink flowers which, as they open, turn to cream making for a charming effect. It flowers for many months from spring until late summer. I cut the evergreen leaves down to about 15cm every winter to keep the plant tidy. 120cm tall by 80cm wide. more... about Kniphofia ‘Strawberries and Cream’
Whilst not fully frost hardy this plant has grown in a protected spot in our garden for twenty years although it is never as grand here as coastal specimens. During summer and autumn whorls of long tubular white flowers are produced on new season’s growth. more... about Leonotis leonorus ‘Harrissmith White’
A wonderful strain of drought tolerant, self-supporting lilies ranging in colour from cream to lemon and mostly with a claret reverse, each one as beautiful as the last. In our dry garden they grow nearly 2 metres tall with the merest extra watering. more... about Lilium ‘Lambley Trumpet Strain’
This is the true, old fashioned exquisite Christmas Lily. Lillium longiflorum seems to have usurped the name in latter years. Beautiful fragrant flared trumpets of crystalline white, claret backed flowers. more... about Lilium regale
I can remember dreamy fields of soft sky blue flax, Linum usitatissimum, growing in my East Midland’s village just after the Hitler war. Unrelated to New Zealand flax it was grown for its seeds which makes linseed oil or its fibre which makes linen. more... about Linum perenne
Marrubium ‘Scallop Shell’ is one of the best evergreen ground covers for hot dry spots where it will make a dense mat of scalloped soft grey leaves, the texture of velvet. The leaves ascend the summer flower stems which carry whorls of hazy purple-pink hooded flowers. more... about Marrubium supinum ‘Scallop Shell’
A dwarf Miscanthus with bronze feathery flower heads which are produced well clear of the leaves during summer and autumn. It is best when grown in drifts rather than as individual specimens. Sun 60cm x 50cm. more... about Miscanthus oligostachyus ‘Eileen Quinn’
This superb variegated grass was first cultivated fifty years ago in Japan. It is almost evergreen with us, although it needs cutting to the ground in mid winter to keep it looking clean, and makes 2 metres tall foliage fountains. more... about Miscanthus sinensis subsp. condensatus ‘Cosmopolitan’
Piet Oudolf and Michael King in their useful book ‘Gardening with Grasses’ describe this cultivar as follows “.....one of the best varieties. A pink flowering, free hanging form, possessing lightness and elegance. more... about Miscanthus sinensis ‘Flamingo’
A new selection of variegated Miscanthus much smaller growing than M. ‘Zebrinus’ and unlike the latter is neat and tidy. It has a rigidly upright growth habit and its dark green leaves are heavily banded with gold. It impressed visitors to our garden last summer and autumn. more... about Miscanthus sinensis ‘Gold Bar’
The true ‘Gracillimus’ not a seed introduction. This makes a 100cm tall clump of slender elegant foliage developing an interesting swirl during the season. In late autumn and winter it has lovely autumn tones of orange, gold and coffee. more... about Miscanthus sinensis ‘Gracillimus’
This is one of our own seedlings which we selected about fifteen years ago. Less fountain like, more vertical in growth than most feather grasses, it has an excellent separation between flowers and foliage. 200cm or a little more tall and 120cm wide. Sun. more... about Miscanthus sinensis ‘Hiawatha’
This introduction from the great German nurseryman Ernst Pagels is one of the most beautiful of all the small growing Miscanthus making 50cm tall, arching, narrow leaved foliage clumps. more... about Miscanthus sinensis ‘Kleine Fontaine’
This looked superb in the garden last year. Miscanthus sinensis ‘Variegata’ is a fine clump forming variegated grass with startling arching copper flowers. The foliage mounds grow to 100cm by much the same across becoming grander as the years pass. more... about Miscanthus sinensis ‘Variegata’
Almost identical in its grey leaves and ethereal mauve flowers to Nepeta ‘Six Hills Giant’ but the habit of this plant makes it so different and so desirable. It is very neat, upright and tidy in growth not at all lax. more... about Nepeta ‘Dropmore’
Walkers Low catmint has been growing in our double borders for a dozen years or so. Stiff upright stems, clothed in greyish leaves, carry spikes of lavender-blue flowers of a similar colour to N. more... about Nepeta racemosa ‘Walkers Low’
The dry hillsides of Greece and Turkey have given us a whole range of beautiful, drought tolerant evergreen ornamental Oreganos. Origanum ‘Kent Beauty’ makes a mat of round blue-green leaves and arching stems carrying large hanging Hops-like heads of pink and green flowers. more... about Origanum ‘Kent Beauty’
A selection of O. laevigatum made 25 or 30 years ago at a famous English Nursery. I’ve grown it for 20 years and have a good patch in the dry garden. From a mat of evergreen leaves 60cm tall, wiry stems carry rich purple pink flower heads from midsummer until the winter. more... about Origanum laevigatum ‘Hopleys’
Fountain like clumps of fine arching leaves are topped by a cloud of maroon midge-like flowers during autumn. Late in the season the foliage turns bronze red and finally to straw gold during winter. more... about Panicum virgatum ‘Rubrum’
This is totally different in both leaf colour and outline to the other Panicums that we’ve listed in previous catalogues. Panicum ‘Heavy Metal’ makes clumps of stiff upright stems clothed in blue leaves. more... about Panicum virgatum ‘Heavy Metal’
My wife, Criss Canning, loves painting these sumptuous flowers and over the years I’ve built up quite a collection which i grow in the vegetable garden. more... about Papaver orientale ‘Turkenlouis’
A lovely grass making 50cm wide clumps of pale blue-green arching leaves. Misty greyish mushroom-pink bottlebrushes are produced from spring until winter. Frost hardy, long lived and drought tolerant. Sun or light shade. 50 x 50cm. more... about Pennisetum orientale
