An RHS AGM winning Black Eyed Susan bearing bright, golden-yellow, daisy-like flowers with dark button eyes that make excellent cut flowers. The radiant, coneflowers of Rudbeckia fulgida ?Goldsturm? are produced over a long period, attracting bees and butterflies to their long lasting blooms. These compact perennials are easy to grow, reliably filling gaps in borders, and returning year after year.
Physalis alkekengi var. franchetii, also known as Cape Gooseberry, is a highly unusual and exotic looking plant that provides garden interest throughout the seasons. In midsummer the plant is covered in small creamy-white flowers that contrast with the oval green foliage. Later in the year they become full of berries that are inside bright red-orange papery calyces that look like Chinese lanterns. If left on the plant over winter the berries, which have been hidden inside, become visible as the calyces slowly skeletonize and end up, on frosty winter days, looking like gilded cages surrounding the berries.
Damp, dry or shaded areas are not the ideal place for a great many plants but Hostas are the ideal solution. They are easy to grow and will provide ground cover in the shaded border or you can make a feature of them in a container if you have areas of the patio that don't catch the sun. Hosta sieboldiana var. elegans is clump forming and has strong blue-green foliage with deep ridges that give texture to the display and during the summer months you can expect stems of pale lilac flowers too. The Giant Blue Hosta is a worthy RHS Award of Garden Merit holder and is the perfect plant for moist, damp, dark borders or difficult, dry shady borders.. Height: 100cm (39). Spread: 120cm (48).
Hosta undulata var. undulata or 'Mediovariegata' is an RHS AGM winning hardy perennial that strikes a rare balance between flowers and foliage. In July and August, its lavender-blue, funnel-shaped blooms look stunning on their tall stems, particularly when the plant is featured in a patio container or at the front of a border. However, the leaves over which they tower are equally attractive, with a creamy-white centre and an unusual, twisted growth habit. This foliage also provides good groundcover in cottage and woodland gardens. Indeed, to achieve the brightest colours, a shady setting with plenty of trees is an ideal setting for this understated Plantain Lily. Height: 45cm (1'6). Spread: 45cm (1'6).
Large and decorative dahlias that feature pretty, spherical blooms with layer upon layer of petals. Ideal for adding to the back of borders and amongst shrubs that will offer support to the flowering stems. Ht. 1.5m. Supplied as tubers.
Description for Anemone hupehensis var. japonica 'Prinz Heinrich' not available
A 'charentais' type of cantaloupe melon that can successfully ripen outdoors. Smooth, pale cream-yellow fruits with green striping reach 10-12cm (4-5in) in diameter and 500g (1lb) in weight, turning a more tan yellow when ripe. The salmon orange flesh is sweet, juicy and perfumed.
Rarely seen in gardens, this handsome spreading shrub deserves to be much better known. Evergreen purple-bronze foliage provides fabulous year round colour, and contrasts beautifully with the spidery, raspberry-red spring blooms. The flowers of Loropetalum chinense var. rubrum 'Fire Dance' are delicately scented, which only adds to its charms. This magnificent hardy shrub is ideal for sheltered borders and woodland gardens where it makes an eye catching specimen in spring and provides a beautiful backdrop for colourful summer perennials. Height and spread: 2m (79).
Description for Geranium pratense var. striatum 'Splish Splash' not available
A striking bicolour, mophead variety, with blue petals frosted with white edges. This eye-catching hardy shrub makes a striking focal point for patio pots and borders where it provides a long season of interest.
Extremely dwarf plants with attractive, nodding, rose-pink and cream flowers against unusual blue-green, fan shaped foliage. This compact Aquilegia is ideal for planting at the front of borders, in containers or alpine gardens where it will self seed to create handsome drifts. Height and spread: 20cm (8)