Plants that can be grown in a large pot or tub: for a terrace, a balcony or a paved courtyard.
195 plants from our verified database, by name. A plant is only listed when the data this list relies on is not in doubt. How our data is made
Campanula garganica 15 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low, cushion-forming bellflower that almost disappears under starry blue flowers in early summer. It is made for walls, crevices, troughs, rock…
Agapanthus × hybridus 80 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
Grow it as a container plant, because most of the forms sold here do not overwinter outdoors and have to be moved to a frost-free place in autumn.…
Aster alpinus 30 cm × 40 cm after 10 years
A low, cushion-forming perennial that carries large yellow-centred daisies in violet, blue, pink or white in late spring and early summer, which makes…
Stachys monieri 55 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A long-lived perennial that makes a dense cushion of glossy, dark green, scalloped leaves, above which tight rosy-purple flower spikes stand for weeks…
Gypsophila cerastioides 10 cm × 40 cm after 10 years
A tiny Himalayan gypsophila that makes a ground-hugging mat of rounded, fresh green leaves, topped from late spring to midsummer by white flowers…
Astilbe × arendsii 90 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A splash of colour for shady, damp corners: feathery plumes in white, pink, red or purple rise above ferny foliage in early summer. Plant it only…
Aubrieta × cultorum 15 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A low, evergreen, grey-green cushion plant for rock gardens that flowers so heavily in spring that the leaves almost disappear: good on top of…
Salvia greggii 75 cm × 75 cm after 10 years
A small-leaved, aromatic subshrub that carries red, pink, white or purple lipped flowers from early summer until frost and copes very well with heat…
Platycodon grandiflorus 60 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A long-lived, bushy perennial whose puffed-up, balloon-like buds open in summer into blue, white or pink starry bells. Plant it in sun or part shade…
Iris × germanica 80 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
The large-flowered, often scented star of late spring and early summer, in almost every colour and colour combination, with sword-shaped leaves held…
Festuca gautieri 20 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
Bearskin fescue makes dense, bright green cushions of needle-fine, prickly leaves that stay green all winter, which suits it to rock gardens, gravel…
Hydrangea macrophylla 1.5 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A rounded deciduous shrub with large mophead or lacecap flower clusters that carry the garden through summer. Plant it in sheltered part shade where…
Rudbeckia fulgida 80 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A dependable, long-flowering perennial with golden yellow, dark-centred daisies from midsummer into autumn, popular with bees and butterflies. It does…
Ophiopogon planiscapus 20 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
Black mondo grass is sold almost only in its black-leaved form: low, grass-like evergreen tufts that stay nearly black all year, so it looks best…
Gaillardia aristata 60 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
From early summer until the first frosts it carries yellow, orange and red, often two-toned daisy flowers, and it shrugs off heat and drought. Most…
Geranium sanguineum 30 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A tough ground-covering perennial that forms a low mound of finely cut leaves, dotted with magenta-pink flowers from late spring into summer, and…
Festuca glauca 30 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low, dome-shaped grass with needle-like blue-grey leaves for sunny, dry beds, rock gardens, edging and pots. The blue is strongest in full sun and…
Bouteloua gracilis 45 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
Blue grama is a low, fine-leaved prairie grass: above its green to blue-grey tuft it carries, in summer, curious comb- or eyelash-like flower spikes…
Koeleria glauca 40 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
A small, hedgehog-like tussock of steel-blue blades that is native to the dry, lime-rich sand grasslands of the region, so it is happiest in full…
Helictotrichon sempervirens 90 cm × 75 cm after 10 years
An ornamental grass that forms a steel-blue, porcupine-like dome which keeps its leaves through winter, with tall arching flower stems that ripen to…
Hylotelephium × hybridum 55 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
The upright autumn stonecrops sold by cultivar name: clumps of fleshy stems and leaves that carry flat flower heads from late summer to late autumn,…
Lonicera nitida 1.2 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
Box honeysuckle is a small-leaved, glossy evergreen shrub that grows fast and takes clipping at almost any time, so it is used for low hedges,…
Aster dumosus 40 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A low, dense, cushion-forming perennial that is smothered in purple, pink, blue or white yellow-centred daisies from late summer to mid-autumn, when…
Geranium × cantabrigiense 25 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A low cranesbill that knits into a dense carpet of glossy leaves, spicily aromatic when rubbed, with pink or white flowers from late spring to…
Canna × generalis 1.5 m × 60 cm after 10 years
It does not overwinter outdoors here: the rhizomes must be lifted in autumn and stored frost-free. Its huge banana-like leaves and vivid flowers…
Campanula carpatica 25 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
Carpathian bellflower is a low, cushion-forming perennial that is covered for weeks from early summer with upward-facing blue, purple or white…
Cotoneaster procumbens 20 cm × 1.8 m after 10 years
An evergreen cotoneaster that lies completely flat on the ground, with tiny, glossy, dark green leaves: it is only 10 to 30 cm tall but spreads one…
Nepeta × faassenii 50 cm × 80 cm after 10 years
A loose mound of grey-green, aromatic foliage that carries clouds of lavender-blue flowers from May to September and is a favourite of pollinators.…
Nepeta × faassenii 'Walker's Low' 75 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
This grey-green catmint brings lavender-blue flowers and plenty of pollinators to sunny borders, path edges and rose plantings. Once established it…
Dianthus gratianopolitanus 20 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
It forms a dense, blue-grey, grassy cushion with clove-scented, mostly pink flowers above it in late spring. It belongs in rock gardens, on walls,…
Astilbe chinensis 60 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A perennial with ferny, dark green leaves that sends up stiff, feathery pink or lilac plumes from midsummer, later than the garden hybrid astilbes. It…
Allium schoenoprasum 45 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A kitchen garden perennial that forms dense, grassy clumps: you can cut its hollow, onion-flavoured leaves from spring to autumn, and the purple globe…
Helleborus niger 30 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low evergreen perennial that opens large pure white flowers with yellow stamens from midwinter to early spring, often pushing up through snow.…
Sedum cauticola 15 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
A low, trailing stonecrop with fleshy blue-grey leaves, topped by rosy-purple star flowers from late summer to mid autumn. It suits rock gardens,…
Leucothoe axillaris 50 cm × 70 cm after 10 years
A low, slow evergreen with glossy leaves for shady spots on acidic soil; the forms on sale turn red to maroon in autumn and hold that colour all…
Salvia officinalis 60 cm × 80 cm after 10 years
An aromatic subshrub with grey-green, velvety leaves that works both as a kitchen herb and as an ornamental, and whose bluish-purple flowers draw bees…
Thymus vulgaris 30 cm × 40 cm after 10 years
Common thyme is a low, evergreen, strongly scented subshrub that works as a kitchen herb, a bee plant and an edging for sunny, dry beds all at once.…
Heuchera sanguinea 45 cm × 35 cm after 10 years
A low perennial with a mound of leaves that stays green through winter, topped from late spring to early summer by airy sprays of tiny coral-red bells…
Dianthus plumarius 30 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
An old cottage garden favourite: its grey, grassy leaves form a dense cushion all year, and in early summer it is covered in fringed, clove-scented…
Santolina chamaecyparissus 50 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
An evergreen subshrub with silver-grey, finely cut, strongly aromatic foliage that grows into a tight little dome and carries yellow button flowers in…
Primula veris 25 cm × 20 cm after 10 years
A low, rosette-forming perennial of meadows and wood edges that opens nodding, fragrant, egg-yellow flowers in April on stems held above the leaves.…
Vaccinium macrocarpon 20 cm × 1.5 m after 10 years
A low, evergreen dwarf shrub whose creeping shoots knit into a mat and which ripens large, red, tart berries in autumn; it is self-fertile, so a…
Gypsophila repens 15 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A dwarf alpine cousin of the tall baby's breath: it makes a grey-green, narrow-leaved cushion 10 to 20 cm tall that is covered in a cloud of tiny…
Thymus praecox 10 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
An evergreen, aromatic mat only a few centimetres tall that is covered in summer with pink, lilac or, depending on the variety, white or reddish…
Crocus × hybridus 12 cm × 15 cm after 10 years
Spring crocuses bring the first colour of the year: the smaller-flowered early kinds open at the end of winter, the large-flowered Dutch hybrids…
Fritillaria imperialis 1 m × 40 cm after 10 years
A big spring bulb: a straight, metre-tall stem carries a ring of orange, yellow or red bells under a tuft of leaves, which makes it the showiest plant…
Helichrysum italicum 60 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
A silver-grey evergreen subshrub with needle-thin leaves that give off a strong curry scent in sunshine and after rain, and mustard-yellow flower…
Euphorbia polychroma 45 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A perennial that forms a neat dome and glows sulphur yellow around April and May, then turns red in autumn. It suits a sunny, dry border, also on limy…
Narcissus × hybridus 40 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
Daffodils are among the most dependable spring bulbs: they return every year, the bulbs multiply by offsets so a handful thickens into a dense clump…
Dahlia × hortensis 1 m × 60 cm after 10 years
It does not overwinter outdoors here: the tubers must be lifted after the first frost and stored frost-free. It flowers from midsummer until the…
Campanula portenschlagiana 15 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A low bellflower that forms a tight cushion; from late spring to midsummer its small, ivy-like leaves almost disappear under violet-blue bells. It…
Thuja occidentalis 'Danica' 40 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A dwarf arborvitae that forms a regular, dense, slightly flattened globe without any clipping, with bright emerald green sprays held vertically. It…
Salix integra 2 m × 2 m after 10 years
Nurseries sell it almost only as the variegated cultivar 'Hakuro-nishiki': the spring shoots are dappled pink, white and green and turn mostly green…
Viburnum davidii 80 cm × 1.3 m after 10 years
A low evergreen shrub that forms a wide mound, grown mainly for its leathery dark green leaves with three deep veins. White flowers open in spring,…
Hemerocallis × hybrida 80 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
Garden daylilies are almost indestructible, long-lived perennials: above a clump of arching, grassy leaves they carry trumpet-shaped flowers for weeks…
Hemerocallis 'Stella de Oro' 40 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A low, dense daylily that keeps producing lightly scented golden yellow flowers in flushes from early summer to autumn, so it is rewarding as an…
Primula denticulata 30 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
An early spring perennial that carries lilac, white or ruby flower globes on stout stems from March to April, before the leaves are fully grown. Plant…
Hypericum × dummeri 70 cm × 1 m after 10 years
A low, spreading, semi-evergreen shrub with reddish stems and blue-green leaves that bears large golden yellow cup-shaped flowers from early summer…
Picea glauca 'Conica' 1.3 m × 90 cm after 10 years
A neat, dense cone of soft, light green needles: it grows only about 10 cm a year, reaches roughly 130 cm in ten years and gets to 3 or 4 metres…
Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Nana Gracilis' 1.5 m × 80 cm after 10 years
The best known dwarf false cypress: glossy dark green foliage in twisted, shell-shaped fans gives it a sculptural, irregular outline that starts out…
Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Ellwoodii' 1.5 m × 60 cm after 10 years
A dense, narrow cone or column of false cypress with soft, needle-like blue-green foliage that turns a steelier blue in winter. It grows slowly,…
Lavandula angustifolia 60 cm × 80 cm after 10 years
An evergreen, grey-leaved, scented subshrub covered for weeks in early summer with purple, blue, pink or white flower spikes that bees and butterflies…
Lavandula angustifolia 'Hidcote' 60 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
'Hidcote' forms a compact mound of silvery foliage topped with fragrant, dark-purple flowers that attract bees. It works well along sunny borders,…
Iberis sempervirens 25 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low, cushion-forming subshrub with dark green, leathery leaves, covered in spring by so many pure white flowers that the foliage almost…
Calamagrostis × acutiflora 1.5 m × 60 cm after 10 years
A narrow, strictly upright ornamental grass that flowers as early as the start of summer and keeps its straw-coloured stems standing all winter, so it…
Calamagrostis × acutiflora 'Karl Foerster' 1.5 m × 75 cm after 10 years
A strictly upright, narrow ornamental grass that flowers as early as the start of summer and keeps its straw-coloured stems standing all winter. It…
Juniperus squamata 50 cm × 1 m after 10 years
Flaky juniper is sold as dwarf, steel-blue garden forms: Blue Star is a slow, dense dome, Blue Carpet a flat, wide-spreading ground cover, and…
Rosa Floribunda Group 90 cm × 70 cm after 10 years
The floribunda (the small-flowered polyantha roses belong here too) is a low, bushy rose that carries its flowers in clusters at the shoot tips and…
Tiarella cordifolia 30 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A woodland ground cover with maple-like leaves that last through mild winters and airy, foamy spikes of white or pink flowers floating above them in…
Hosta fortunei 60 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
The Fortune's hosta group (for example gold-edged 'Aureomarginata' and white-edged 'Francee' and 'Patriot') is a dependable foliage plant for part…
Pennisetum alopecuroides 90 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
An ornamental grass forming a hemispherical, arching clump that carries soft bottlebrush plumes from late summer into autumn and turns golden yellow…
Aster × frikartii 75 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
One of the longest flowering asters: its lavender-blue daisies with yellow centres keep coming from midsummer to late autumn, and butterflies and bees…
Prunus incisa 1.5 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
In nurseries you will find almost only the dwarf 'Kojo-no-mai': a slow, compact shrub with zigzag twigs that is covered in white, pink-centred blossom…
Acer shirasawanum 2 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A slow-growing, bushy Japanese maple with round, fan-like leaves of 9 to 13 lobes; its best-known cultivar, 'Aureum', opens golden yellow in spring,…
Tulipa × gesneriana 50 cm × 15 cm after 10 years
The classic bulb of spring beds, in almost every colour except true blue, with single, double, fringed, lily-flowered and parrot forms, 20 to 75 cm…
Gaura lindheimeri 1 m × 60 cm after 10 years
An airy, long-flowering perennial whose thin, swaying stems carry butterfly-like white or pink flowers from early summer until the frosts. It takes…
Agastache × hybrida 80 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
An upright perennial with anise and mint scented leaves that carries dense flower spikes from midsummer to the frosts and is among the best plants for…
Carex flacca 30 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low evergreen sedge with blue-green leaves that are glaucous beneath, slowly knitting into a dense carpet by short rhizomes. It is very adaptable:…
Rudbeckia hirta 70 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A fast-growing, bristly-leaved coneflower with large golden yellow, orange, rusty red or two-tone flowers around a dark centre, which open in the very…
Abelia × grandiflora 1.2 m × 1.2 m after 10 years
A semi-evergreen shrub with arching branches and glossy leaves that carries small, white, pink-flushed, scented bell flowers from early summer until…
Salix caprea 'Pendula' 2 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
Goat willow is a large shrub or small tree, but in gardens you nearly always get the weeping 'Pendula' ('Kilmarnock') grafted on a stem: its height is…
Anemone blanda 15 cm × 20 cm after 10 years
A tiny tuberous anemone that weaves a carpet of blue, white or pink daisy-like flowers under deciduous trees and shrubs in early spring. Plant the…
Santolina rosmarinifolia 60 cm × 80 cm after 10 years
A Mediterranean subshrub with bright green, thread-fine aromatic foliage that forms a dense cushion and is covered with pale yellow button flowers…
Rosa Ground Cover Group 60 cm × 1 m after 10 years
A group of low, wide-spreading roses (The Fairy and its relatives, the Flower Carpet series and similar) that cover a slope, a border edge or a…
Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Hameln' 90 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
This compact ornamental grass works well in small groups, mixed perennial borders or a large container. Soft bottlebrush flower heads appear in late…
Geranium × hybridum 50 cm × 70 cm after 10 years
This record covers the garden cranesbills sold by cultivar name: loose mounds of cut leaves with saucer-shaped blue, purple, pink or white flowers,…
Hibiscus moscheutos 1.5 m × 1.2 m after 10 years
A shrub-sized herbaceous perennial that carries dinner-plate flowers in white, pink or red from midsummer into autumn; each bloom lasts a day or…
Delosperma cooperi 10 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A succulent mat barely a hand high that is covered from early summer to autumn in dazzling magenta-purple, daisy-like flowers. It belongs in blazing…
Delosperma × hybridum 10 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A group record for the hardier ice plant hybrids sold under series names (Wheels of Wonder, Jewel of Desert, Sundella, Suntropics) or as single…
Sparaxis tricolor 30 cm × 10 cm after 10 years
Not winter hardy: the corms freeze outdoors, so treat it like a gladiolus. Plant in spring, from late April to mid May, 5 to 8 cm deep and 8 to 10…
Bergenia cordifolia 60 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
Its large, round, leathery, glossy leaves stay all year and flush burgundy and bronze in the cold, and in early spring it carries clusters of pink…
Calluna vulgaris 40 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A low evergreen dwarf shrub with tiny scale-like leaves that covers itself in pink, purple, red or white flower spikes from late summer into autumn;…
Heuchera × hybrida 40 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
Coral bells are grown mainly for their low mound of lobed leaves, which stays decorative almost all year: cultivars come in deep purple to near black,…
Osmanthus heterophyllus 2 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
An evergreen shrub with glossy, dark green, spiny leaves that look like holly, bearing tiny white flowers in autumn whose scent carries a long way…
Hosta × hybrida 50 cm × 80 cm after 10 years
Hostas are the classic foliage plants for shady parts of the garden: broad, veined leaves in green, powdery blue, gold or with white or yellow…
Hosta sieboldiana 'Elegans' 90 cm × 1.5 m after 10 years
Its large, corrugated blue-green leaves fill shady borders nicely, and it also works as a specimen or in a large container. Give it humus-rich,…
Sempervivum × hybridum 15 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A hardy evergreen succulent whose fleshy rosettes knit into dense cushions: made for gravel beds, wall crevices, troughs and green roofs, where most…
Hyacinthus orientalis 25 cm × 10 cm after 10 years
A spring bulb with dense, waxy flower spikes in April whose scent fills the whole garden; sold in blue, purple, pink, red, white and yellow cultivars.…
Geum × hybridum 60 cm × 40 cm after 10 years
A low perennial with hairy leaf rosettes and wiry stems that carry small rose-like flowers in orange, red, yellow or apricot for weeks: one of the…
Berberis × media 1.3 m × 1.4 m after 10 years
A dense, rounded, thorny barberry with small glossy leaves that mostly stay on the bush in a mild winter and turn bright red and bronze in autumn.…
Lobelia × speciosa 80 cm × 35 cm after 10 years
An upright perennial with dense flower spikes in red, pink, purple or blue from midsummer into autumn, and many forms have bronze foliage too. It…
Echinacea × hybrida 70 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
Modern hybrid coneflowers come from crosses of purple coneflower with its relatives: the same stiff-stemmed flower with a central cone, but in orange,…
Hyssopus officinalis 60 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low, aromatic, woody-based subshrub that draws bees and butterflies with spikes of blue, or less often pink or white, flowers from early summer into…
Juniperus communis 'Hibernica' 2 m × 50 cm after 10 years
A dense, blue-green needled column that grows slowly, so it stays in proportion for years even in a small garden or rock garden. It is happiest in sun…
Sagina subulata 5 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
A ground cover that forms a moss-like evergreen cushion only a few centimetres high, dotted with tiny white flowers in early summer; it is also sold…
Rhododendron Japanese Azalea Group 60 cm × 80 cm after 10 years
A low, dense, small-leaved evergreen or semi-evergreen shrub that in late April and May carries so many white, pink, red, purple or orange-red flowers…
Imperata cylindrica 'Red Baron' 60 cm × 1.2 m after 10 years
A low, upright grass whose leaves emerge green and turn red from the tip downwards, ending blood red by autumn. It looks best in groups with the light…
Hakonechloa macra 45 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A soft grass with arching, bamboo-like leaves that is happiest in part shade and shade, good under trees, along edges and in pots. It needs humus-rich…
Juniperus procumbens 25 cm × 1.2 m after 10 years
A very low, dense, blue-green evergreen mat: gardens almost always grow the dwarf form 'Nana', which stays barely a hand tall and slowly spreads to…
Ilex crenata 1.2 m × 1 m after 10 years
A small-leaved, glossy, spineless evergreen that looks deceptively like box when clipped, so it is planted in its place for low hedges, edging and…
Cyrtomium fortunei 50 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
Leathery, matt green, sickle-shaped leaflets make the fronds look like sprays of holly, and in mild winters they stay green all year. It is the…
Athyrium niponicum 45 cm × 55 cm after 10 years
Japanese painted fern is a low, arching fern usually sold in its painted forms: the fronds are silvery grey with a green wash and burgundy midribs,…
Pieris japonica 1.5 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A slow-growing evergreen shrub with scented white or pink sprays in spring that recall lily of the valley, and new shoots that are bright red or…
Carex oshimensis 45 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low evergreen sedge with arching leaves, sold almost only in yellow or cream striped forms. It suits the edge of a part-shaded bed, the ground under…
Skimmia japonica 80 cm × 1 m after 10 years
A slow-growing, dense, dome-shaped evergreen shrub with leathery dark green leaves that brightens a shady corner all year: its buds show as reddish or…
Acorus gramineus 30 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
A low evergreen perennial that looks like a grass but is not one: its fan-shaped tufts of narrow, glossy leaves are decorative all year, and the…
Polystichum polyblepharum 50 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
Glossy, dark green, finely divided fronds form a neat vase-shaped clump that stays green through winter. In spring the tips of the unfurling fronds…
Sedum kamtschaticum 15 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low, dense, mat-forming succulent perennial that covers itself in golden yellow star flowers in summer and turns orange to reddish in autumn. It…
Stachys byzantina 50 cm × 1 m after 10 years
Its soft, thickly woolly, silver-grey leaves form a low, spreading carpet that children love to stroke; in summer it sends up grey, felted stems…
Coreopsis grandiflora 60 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A bushy perennial that produces large, golden yellow daisy flowers from early summer into autumn and is good for cutting too. It is happiest in a…
Veronica teucrium 40 cm × 40 cm after 10 years
A low, bushy perennial that is almost hidden under spikes of vivid gentian-blue flowers in May and June, to the delight of bees and butterflies. It…
Lavandula × intermedia 90 cm × 1 m after 10 years
A bigger, more vigorous hybrid than true lavender: a grey-green, aromatic subshrub that carries long-stemmed, strongly scented flower spikes in summer…
Thymus × citriodorus 25 cm × 40 cm after 10 years
A low, cushion-forming evergreen subshrub whose tiny leaves smell strongly of lemon when rubbed, so you can pick it for fish, poultry and tea. In a…
Helleborus orientalis 45 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
An evergreen, shade-tolerant perennial that carries nodding white, pink, plum or speckled flowers from late winter into spring, when little else is in…
Doronicum orientale 50 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
One of the earliest yellow daisy-flowered perennials: it blooms in spring alongside tulips, above fresh green heart-shaped leaves. It suits part shade…
Calamintha nepeta 45 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A low, bushy perennial that wraps itself in a cloud of tiny white or pale lilac flowers from midsummer until frost and is then one of the busiest…
Lilium × hybridum 1.2 m × 40 cm after 10 years
Garden lilies are the showiest flowers of the summer border and are also good for cutting and for large pots. Plant the bulbs in autumn or early…
Liriope muscari 45 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A clump-forming perennial with dark green, grass-like leaves that copes with part shade and shade under trees and carries spikes of purple flowers…
Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight' 2.5 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
Large flower panicles change from lime green to creamy white and pink, bringing colour from midsummer into autumn as a specimen shrub or an informal…
Pinus densiflora 'Low Glow' 90 cm × 1 m after 10 years
A very slow, dense dwarf pine that forms a flattened globe: its soft, bright green needles in pairs may turn slightly yellowish in winter, and reddish…
Miscanthus sinensis 'Gracillimus' 2 m × 1.2 m after 10 years
Its narrow, arching leaves form a fountain-shaped clump that works well at the back of a border or as a standalone accent. Give it a sunny position,…
Dianthus deltoides 20 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low pink that forms loose evergreen mats and is covered for weeks from early summer with small magenta, pink or white flowers. Plant it in sun in…
Syringa patula 1.5 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A dense, slow-growing, compact lilac that flowers after the common lilac, in late spring to early summer: purple buds open to pale lavender,…
Euphorbia characias 1.1 m × 90 cm after 10 years
An evergreen sub-shrub with blue-grey leaves and a sculptural shape that carries huge lime-green flower heads in spring on two-year-old stems. It…
Syringa meyeri 1.2 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A slow-growing, dense, rounded dwarf lilac with small leaves that is covered in strongly scented, pale lilac-pink flower clusters in late spring. It…
Rosa Miniature Group 40 cm × 40 cm after 10 years
Scaled-down versions of the big roses: dense little bushes 20 to 60 cm tall with tiny leaves and flowers 2 to 4 cm across that come in flushes from…
Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora 90 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
Above sword-shaped fresh green leaves it carries arching sprays of fiery red, orange or yellow flowers in midsummer, and they last well when cut.…
Carex morrowii 40 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
An evergreen sedge that forms dense, arching, grass-like clumps, grown mostly as cultivars with white or cream leaf margins. Use it under trees and…
Phlox subulata 15 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
A low, cushion-forming ground cover perennial that covers itself in flowers in late April and May, so the foliage almost disappears. It suits rock…
Saxifraga × arendsii 15 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
A small perennial that forms tight, moss-like evergreen cushions, covered in spring with pink, red or white flowers on short stems. It suits rock…
Antennaria dioica 20 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
It weaves a ground-hugging mat of silver-grey, woolly leaf rosettes, topped in late spring by small white and pink flower heads that look like a cat's…
Hydrangea serrata 1 m × 1 m after 10 years
A smaller, more compact and somewhat hardier relative of the bigleaf hydrangea: its flat lacecap heads carry tiny fertile flowers ringed by a few…
Pinus mugo 90 cm × 1.2 m after 10 years
A dense, cushion-shaped or spreading, multi-stemmed evergreen pine; gardens mostly get its slow-growing dwarf forms. It suits rock gardens, slopes,…
Arenaria montana 10 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
It forms a low, evergreen, fresh green cushion that in late spring almost disappears under pure white flowers that are strikingly large for the size…
Carex comans 40 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A fine, hair-like evergreen sedge that forms an arching mop of silvery green or bronze leaves, depending on the form. It looks best in pots, along…
Sedum sieboldii 20 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low succulent perennial: stems arch out from one point like spokes, carrying round, blue-grey, pink-edged leaves in threes, and pink starry…
Origanum vulgare 60 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
Oregano is a wildflower and a kitchen herb in one: from midsummer its pinkish-purple flowers are busy with bees and butterflies. It is happy in sunny,…
Pennisetum orientale 75 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
A low, loosely arching grass that carries soft, pinkish white bottlebrush plumes from early summer into autumn, much earlier than most fountain…
Sedum telephium 60 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A fleshy-leaved, upright succulent perennial with flat heads of pink, purple or reddish flowers from late summer into autumn, when it is covered in…
Carex muskingumensis 75 cm × 75 cm after 10 years
An unusual-looking sedge: the narrow, light green leaves stand in whorls along stiff, upright stems like the fronds of a tiny palm or papyrus, so it…
Pulsatilla vulgaris 25 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
Pasque flower opens its silky-haired, bell-shaped purple flowers in early spring, almost before the leaves, and follows them with feathery, rounded…
Muhlenbergia capillaris 90 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
A clump-forming grass with fine, thread-like leaves that turns into a pink cloud of flowers in autumn, at its best planted in groups. It wants full…
Prunus × cistena 2.2 m × 1.8 m after 10 years
A small ornamental shrub with upright branches whose glossy reddish purple leaves keep their colour all summer, with pale pink, fragrant flowers in…
Echinacea purpurea 1.2 m × 60 cm after 10 years
Plant it in a sunny perennial border, preferably in a small group, for pink-purple summer flowers that attract bees and butterflies. Established…
Molinia caerulea 90 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
Purple moor grass makes a low, tidy clump from which slender stems with purplish flower panicles rise in midsummer, and in autumn the whole plant…
Salix purpurea 1.5 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A willow of river banks with thin, pliable purplish shoots that grows into a 3 to 5 metre bush in the wild, but gardens almost only get its dense,…
Briza media 70 cm × 40 cm after 10 years
Quaking grass is a low, loosely tufted meadow grass whose heart-shaped spikelets dangle on hair-thin stalks in early summer and tremble in the…
Sedum reflexum 12 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A trailing succulent whose needle-like, fleshy leaves make it look like tiny spruce twigs; it forms a loose mat and carries yellow star flowers in…
Rhododendron × hybridum 1.5 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A large evergreen shrub with leathery leaves that covers itself in ball-shaped flower trusses in May, in white, pink, red, purple or yellow. Plant…
Helianthemum × hybridum 25 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
Hybrid rock roses are low, spreading evergreen subshrubs with grey-green or silvery foliage that cover themselves from late May to midsummer in white,…
Rosmarinus officinalis 1.2 m × 1 m after 10 years
An evergreen, needle-leaved culinary shrub whose strongly aromatic shoots you can pick all year, and whose pale blue spring flowers are covered in…
Arabis blepharophylla 15 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
A low rock garden perennial of evergreen leaf rosettes that covers itself in deep rose-pink to purplish, lightly scented flower clusters in early…
Geranium 'Rozanne' 60 cm × 80 cm after 10 years
'Rozanne' is useful for covering the ground beneath roses or softening the front of a perennial border, with violet-blue, white-centred flowers from…
Fargesia rufa 2.5 m × 2 m after 10 years
A clump-forming bamboo that does not run, so you can plant it without a root barrier: the clump widens slowly but never wanders through the garden. It…
Chamaecyparis pisifera 1.5 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
An evergreen from Japan that is a large tree in the wild, but gardens almost only grow its slow ornamental forms: the thread-leaf Filifera types…
Armeria maritima 20 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
A low, dense evergreen cushion of grass-like leaves, topped in late spring by pink or white flower globes on thin stalks. Use it in rock gardens, as…
Leucanthemum × superbum 90 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
The classic big white daisy with a yellow centre that flowers for weeks in summer, cuts well and draws bees and butterflies. Plant it in sun and…
Hylotelephium spectabile 50 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A succulent perennial forming a neat clump of fleshy, blue-green leaves, with flat, hand-sized flower heads from late summer into autumn that are…
Hebe × hybrida 40 cm × 70 cm after 10 years
A collective name for dense, evergreen dwarf shrubs from New Zealand that are grown for their shape: there are box-like green balls ('Green Globe',…
Lavandula × chaytorae 50 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A hybrid of woolly and English lavender with silver-white felted leaves that look good all year and deep violet, scented flower spikes in summer…
Artemisia schmidtiana 25 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
It forms a low, rounded cushion of soft, finely cut, silvery grey leaves and is grown for that foliage, as its tiny yellowish flowers hardly show.…
Deutzia gracilis 1 m × 1.2 m after 10 years
A low, tidy deciduous shrub with arching stems that is almost hidden under pure white, lightly scented flower clusters in late spring. It suits the…
Cotoneaster microphyllus 40 cm × 1.5 m after 10 years
An evergreen ground cover shrub with tiny glossy dark green leaves on stiff, flat-spreading branches, small white flowers in late spring and red…
Scabiosa columbaria 60 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
Small scabious forms a low mound of grey-green, divided leaves and carries lilac-blue, pink or white pincushion flowers on long, thin stems from…
Veronica spicata 50 cm × 40 cm after 10 years
A slender perennial with upright spikes of blue flowers (pink or white in some cultivars) that draw bees and butterflies for weeks in summer. Give…
Aucuba japonica 1.5 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A shade-tolerant evergreen shrub with large, glossy, leathery leaves; gardens mostly grow the yellow-spotted forms. It suits the spots where other…
Magnolia stellata 2 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A slow, compact small tree or large shrub that covers itself in white, star-shaped, scented flowers in early spring before the leaves appear. It…
Hylotelephium 'Herbstfreude' 60 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
Plant it in a sunny perennial border or gravel garden for late-summer and autumn flowers that attract bees and butterflies. Once established, it needs…
Panicum virgatum 1.8 m × 90 cm after 10 years
An upright, columnar ornamental grass that carries airy, cloud-like flower panicles from midsummer, turns golden yellow in autumn and stays standing…
Pinus densiflora 'Umbraculifera' 2 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
An umbrella-shaped, multi-stemmed form of Japanese red pine: the stems branch from the base and show orange-red, flaking bark, topped by a flat,…
Artemisia dracunculus 75 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A bushy herb with narrow leaves that comes in two very different forms. French tarragon has a strong anise flavour, hardly ever flowers and sets no…
Coreopsis verticillata 60 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
An airy perennial with fine, thread-like foliage, covered in starry yellow flowers from early summer into autumn. It is undemanding and long-lived…
Festuca amethystina 45 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
Tufted fescue is a fine, hair-leaved, blue-green grass tuft topped in early summer by airy flower heads on violet stems. It belongs in a sunny edging,…
Deschampsia cespitosa 1 m × 60 cm after 10 years
Tufted hair grass forms a dense dark green tussock topped in summer by airy clouds of golden and silvery flower panicles that stay decorative into…
Phlox douglasii 10 cm × 40 cm after 10 years
A dwarf phlox that forms a tight evergreen cushion of needle-like leaves, completely hidden in spring under small pink, purple, red or white…
Hypericum × inodorum 1 m × 1 m after 10 years
Tutsan is a low, dense, semi-evergreen shrub that carries golden yellow flowers from early summer into autumn while already ripening its showy, fleshy…
Sedum takesimense 15 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
A low stonecrop that forms a tight cushion of fleshy, toothed leaves, covers itself in yellow starry flowers in summer and keeps its leaf rosettes…
Arabis ferdinandi-coburgi 10 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
A very low rock garden perennial that forms an evergreen mat of tiny leaf rosettes, splashed yellow or white in the garden forms, with white flowers…
Festuca valesiaca 30 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
Volga fescue is a native grass of dry loess and steppe grasslands, and in gardens its blue-leaved forms ('Glaucantha', 'Silbersee') are the ones…
Teucrium chamaedrys 30 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A low evergreen subshrub with small, glossy, scalloped leaves that look like tiny oak leaves, and pinkish purple lipped flowers in summer that bees…
Thymus serpyllum 8 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A scented subshrub only a few centimetres tall that roots as it creeps into a flat mat and is covered in pink and purple flowers, and bees, in summer.…
Erica carnea 25 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A low, cushion-forming evergreen dwarf shrub with needle-like leaves that covers itself in pink, white or purple flowers at the end of winter, often…
Satureja montana 40 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A low, woody-based, semi-evergreen herb with glossy, narrow, peppery-scented leaves that you can use fresh or dried in the kitchen. From midsummer its…
Salvia nemorosa 60 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A tough perennial of dry loess grasslands whose garden cultivars carry dense, upright spikes of violet, blue, pink or white in early summer, always…
Salvia nemorosa 'Caradonna' 60 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
Deep purple flower spikes and almost black stems work well in sunny borders, alongside ornamental grasses or in larger pots, and attract…
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