Plants rated high for drought tolerance: once established, they get through a dry summer without regular watering. The rating is for the hot, dry summers of Central Europe, and even these need watering for the first year or two.
170 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
Yucca filamentosa 1.8 m × 1.2 m after 10 years
It forms a stemless evergreen rosette of sword-shaped leaves edged with white threads, and in early summer sends up a head-high stalk carrying…
Prunus dulcis 4 m × 3.5 m after 10 years
The earliest fruit tree to flower: the white and pink blossom on bare branches in late winter and early spring makes it worth growing as an ornamental…
Cupressus arizonica 3.5 m × 1 m after 10 years
A blue-grey, scale-leaved evergreen that is mostly sold in slim, columnar forms: a handsome specimen in a warm, sunny spot, a screen when planted in a…
Festuca mairei 80 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
A giant among fescues: its narrow grey-green leaves form an arching, fountain-like tussock 60 to 80 cm high that stays green in winter, with slender…
Sesleria autumnalis 45 cm × 40 cm after 10 years
Autumn moor grass is a low ornamental grass that forms dense, arching tussocks of lime-green foliage which largely persists through winter, with…
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…
Gypsophila paniculata 90 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
In summer its much-branched, wiry dome turns into a cloud of tiny white or pale pink flowers, which makes it ideal for hiding the gaps left by…
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…
Kolkwitzia amabilis 3 m × 3 m after 10 years
A large deciduous shrub with arching branches that are smothered in pale pink, yellow-throated bell flowers in late spring. It is very undemanding:…
Geranium macrorrhizum 40 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A perennial that slowly spreads on thick rhizomes into a dense, weed-smothering carpet; its soft, lobed leaves are strongly aromatic when rubbed and…
Prunus spinosa 3 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
A native, very thorny shrub that is covered in white blossom in early spring before the leaves, and one of the best wildlife hedges: impenetrable,…
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…
Juniperus scopulorum 'Blue Arrow' 3.5 m × 60 cm after 10 years
A very narrow, steel-blue column that takes up little ground yet draws a vertical line you can see from across the garden. It wants full sun and…
Caryopteris × clandonensis 90 cm × 1 m after 10 years
A low, mounded deciduous shrub with aromatic grey-green leaves that covers itself in a haze of blue flowers in late summer and early autumn, when…
Baptisia australis 1.2 m × 1.2 m after 10 years
A shrub-like, very long-lived perennial that carries lupin-like spikes of indigo blue flowers in late spring above blue-green, clover-like foliage,…
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…
Echinops bannaticus 1.2 m × 60 cm after 10 years
A tall, architectural perennial that carries steel-blue, globe-shaped flower heads on stiff greyish stems in midsummer: bees and bumblebees work it…
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,…
Parthenocissus tricuspidata 10 m × 5 m after 10 years
A vigorous deciduous climber that clings on its own to brick, stone and concrete with adhesive pads at the tips of its tendrils, so it covers a…
Buddleja davidii 3 m × 3 m after 10 years
Its fragrant summer flowers attract butterflies and work well at the back of a sunny border. Give it freely draining soil, prune in spring, and remove…
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…
Dianthus carthusianorum 50 cm × 25 cm after 10 years
The pink of dry grasslands: thin, wiry stems rise in summer from grassy evergreen tufts and carry tight heads of small magenta flowers that…
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…
Sedum spurium 15 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
A low, succulent ground cover that quickly knits a dense mat with its rooting stems and is covered in pink, red or white starry flowers in summer,…
Vitex agnus-castus 2.5 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
A loose, spreading shrub with a Mediterranean feel: grey-green, aromatic, hand-shaped leaves and fragrant lilac flower spikes from midsummer into…
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,…
Chaenomeles speciosa 2 m × 2 m after 10 years
A dense, spiny shrub that reaches head height and flowers in early spring before the leaves: depending on the cultivar the white, pink or red blooms…
Crataegus pinnatifida 3.5 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
A hawthorn grown as a fruit tree: gardens get the large-fruited form (var. major) and its cultivars, whose glossy red, apple-flavoured fruits of 2…
Juniperus chinensis 2 m × 1 m after 10 years
A tough evergreen that takes full sun and fairly dry soil, sold in gardens as cultivars: slim cones, loose upright shrubs and wide spreading forms…
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,…
Cytisus scoparius 1.5 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
An upright shrub of whippy, almost leafless green stems that disappear under pea flowers in May: the species is yellow, while the hybrids sold by…
Crataegus monogyna 4 m × 3 m after 10 years
A thorny large shrub or small tree that is covered in scented white blossom in May and loaded with red haws in autumn, much loved by birds. It makes…
Juniperus communis 2.5 m × 80 cm after 10 years
A native, slow-growing evergreen with prickly needles and blue-black berry-like cones, planted in gardens mostly as its slender columnar cultivars for…
Syringa vulgaris 3 m × 2 m after 10 years
A large, long-lived deciduous shrub grown for its strongly scented flower clusters in spring. It copes well with sun, heat and limy soil, and with…
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.…
Achillea millefolium 80 cm × 80 cm after 10 years
A tough native perennial with finely cut, aromatic foliage and flat flower heads that bees and butterflies visit all summer; garden cultivars also…
Symphoricarpos × doorenbosii 1.5 m × 1.8 m after 10 years
This hybrid snowberry is an almost indestructible, dense shrub with arching branches: its tiny, inconspicuous flowers are popular with bees and are…
Cornus mas 3 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
A slow-growing, long-lived large shrub or small tree that covers itself in tiny yellow flowers at the end of winter, before the leaves, and is one…
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…
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…
Juniperus horizontalis 30 cm × 2 m after 10 years
A ground-hugging, wide-spreading evergreen that covers a sunny bank, the top of a retaining wall or a rock garden with a green or blue-green carpet…
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…
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…
Euphorbia cyparissias 30 cm × 1 m after 10 years
A perennial whose fine blue-green, needle-like foliage makes it look like tiny conifer seedlings, covering a dry sunny bank or gravel patch in…
Iris pallida 90 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A bearded iris with sweetly scented, pale lavender-blue flowers and grey-green sword leaves that stay tidy after flowering; the striped forms are…
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…
Juniperus virginiana 2 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
A very undemanding, tough evergreen: it takes drought, limy and poor soil, city air and hard frost, asking only for full sun and a spot free of…
Elaeagnus × ebbingei 2.5 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
A vigorous, dense evergreen shrub with leathery leaves that are glossy dark green above and silvery beneath, bearing tiny, barely visible but strongly…
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 × 1 m 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,…
Achillea filipendulina 1.2 m × 75 cm after 10 years
A tall, stiff-stemmed perennial whose flat, golden yellow flower plates last all summer and keep well cut or dried, while its spicy-scented, ferny…
Acer campestre 4.5 m × 3 m after 10 years
A native, undemanding small to medium tree that copes with drought, lime and clay, city air and hard clipping, and turns a good yellow in autumn. Left…
Pyracantha coccinea 3 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
A dense, fiercely thorny evergreen shrub with clusters of white flowers in late spring and masses of red or orange berries from autumn to late winter,…
Chaenomeles × superba 1.2 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A low, spreading, thorny deciduous shrub that covers itself in large, waxy, mostly red flowers in early spring before the leaves, when little else…
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…
Stipa gigantea 2 m × 1 m after 10 years
From a low tussock of grey-green leaves it sends up stems to two metres in early summer, carrying oat-like panicles that open purplish and ripen to…
Ginkgo biloba 6 m × 5 m after 10 years
A distinctive, ancient tree with fan-shaped leaves that all turn brilliant golden yellow at once in autumn. It has almost no pests or diseases,…
Prunus fruticosa 'Globosa' 3 m × 2 m after 10 years
An ornamental tree grafted on a stem of about two metres, with a dense crown that grows into a regular ball on its own and small dark green leaves.…
Robinia pseudoacacia 'Umbraculifera' 4 m × 3 m after 10 years
A locust grafted on a tall stem with a dense, regular ball crown; it does not flower or set seed and its branches are thornless. It copes well with…
Lycium barbarum 2 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
A thorny deciduous shrub with long, arching canes whose orange-red berries you know as goji: a single bush crops on its own without a pollination…
Koelreuteria paniculata 5 m × 4 m after 10 years
A heat and drought tolerant small tree that carries large yellow flower panicles in midsummer, when few other trees bloom, followed by papery…
Sedum acre 10 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A tiny, moss-like evergreen succulent that forms a carpet only a few centimetres high and is smothered in golden-yellow starry flowers in early…
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…
Spiraea × cinerea 1.5 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A dense, rounded bush with thin, arching shoots that are covered along their whole length with tiny snow-white flowers in April, before the leaves…
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…
Ceratostigma plumbaginoides 25 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A low perennial spreading by rhizomes that carries gentian-blue flowers from late summer until the frosts while its leaves turn bronze-red. It makes a…
Aster ericoides 80 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A densely branched aster from the North American prairies with tiny, heather-like leaves, covered in September and October by clouds of very small…
Gleditsia triacanthos 7 m × 5 m after 10 years
A large tree with a loose crown and fine, fern-like foliage that casts only dappled shade, so lawn and other plants still grow underneath. It copes…
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…
Campsis × tagliabuana 6 m × 3 m after 10 years
A vigorous deciduous woody climber that carries large salmon to orange-red trumpet flowers at the shoot tips from midsummer into autumn; the flowers…
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…
Aster amellus 60 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low, bushy aster with large lavender, violet or pink daisies with yellow centres from late summer well into autumn, always busy with bees and…
Cupressus sempervirens 3 m × 60 cm after 10 years
The pencil-thin, dark green column that defines Mediterranean landscapes: gardens almost always get the narrow columnar forms, which stay only one…
Berberis thunbergii 1.5 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A dense, spiny, undemanding deciduous shrub grown mainly for its green, burgundy, yellow or variegated foliage, vivid autumn colour and red berries…
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…
Styphnolobium japonicum 6 m × 4 m after 10 years
A large shade tree with a rounded crown that flowers in the height of summer, when few other trees do, with creamy white, scented panicles that bees…
Chaenomeles japonica 1 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
Japanese quince is a knee to waist high, wide-spreading thorny shrub that covers itself in orange-red flowers in early spring before the leaves, a…
Cercis siliquastrum 6 m × 4 m after 10 years
Pink-purple flowers appear on bare branches and even the trunk in spring, followed by rounded, heart-shaped leaves that provide light summer shade.…
Ziziphus jujuba 4 m × 3 m after 10 years
A small, open-crowned tree with zigzag branches and glossy leaves that copes well with hot, dry summers and limy soil, and whose tiny fragrant flowers…
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…
Viburnum tinus 2 m × 2 m after 10 years
A Mediterranean evergreen viburnum with dark, glossy foliage that flowers from late autumn in mild winters, otherwise from late winter into spring:…
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…
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…
Salvia verticillata 75 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A loose, bushy perennial with soft, hairy leaves that carries whorled spikes of smoky purple flowers from June to September, constantly visited by…
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…
Fraxinus ornus 5 m × 3.5 m after 10 years
Manna ash is a medium-sized tree with a rounded crown that covers itself in creamy white, scented flower plumes around May and turns yellow to…
Salvia pratensis 70 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A violet-blue wildflower of dry meadows: from late May slender flower spikes rise above a basal rosette of wrinkled leaves and draw bees and…
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…
Nassella tenuissima 60 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
Its hair-fine leaves and airy flower panicles soften perennial borders and work well in containers. Choose a sunny spot with excellent drainage,…
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…
Oenothera macrocarpa 25 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A sprawling perennial with trailing stems that carries huge, hand-sized, lemon yellow, lightly scented flowers for months from early summer; they open…
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…
Arabis caucasica 20 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
It forms a cushion of grey-green evergreen leaf rosettes that disappears in early spring under lightly scented white flowers, pink in some…
Euphorbia myrsinites 20 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
An evergreen, blue-grey spurge whose trailing stems, clad in spirals of leaves, sprawl between stones like tentacles and end in vivid yellow-green…
Physocarpus opulifolius 2.5 m × 2 m after 10 years
An undemanding, fast-growing deciduous shrub with arching branches, rounded clusters of white or pinkish flowers in May and June and reddish, inflated…
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…
Allium × hybridum 90 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
Tall ornamental onions flower in late spring and early summer: their purple, white or pink globes on bare, straight stems fill the gap between…
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…
Cortaderia selloana 2.5 m × 1.8 m after 10 years
A huge, dense clump-forming grass with silvery-white feathery plumes from late summer, best as a single specimen in a roomy, sunny spot. It needs a…
Parrotia persica 4 m × 3 m after 10 years
A slow-growing, usually multi-stemmed small tree with a wide crown, planted for its foliage: the leaves open flushed with purple, turn glossy green in…
Albizia julibrissin 5 m × 4 m after 10 years
A small tree with a wide, flat, umbrella-like crown, finely divided fern-like foliage and pink, silky pompom flowers in midsummer that bees and…
Ceanothus × pallidus 1.5 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A deciduous, summer-flowering ceanothus almost always sold as the cultivar 'Marie Simon': from midsummer to autumn its reddish shoots carry fluffy…
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…
Punica granatum 2.5 m × 2 m after 10 years
A dense, many-stemmed shrub with glossy leaves that carries vivid orange-red flowers through summer and turns yellow in autumn. It is self-fertile, so…
Eragrostis spectabilis 60 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
Purple love grass is a low warm-season grass: in late summer a reddish-purple haze of flowers floats above the green tuft of leaves, fading to brown…
Centranthus ruber 80 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A bushy perennial with fleshy, blue-green leaves that carries clusters of small, fragrant crimson, pink or white flowers from late spring to autumn…
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…
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,…
Cotoneaster horizontalis 70 cm × 1.8 m after 10 years
A slow, flat-spreading shrub with herringbone branches and tiny glossy leaves that turn red in autumn, followed by red berries that last into…
Juniperus scopulorum 4 m × 60 cm after 10 years
Rocky Mountain juniper is sold as narrow, columnar, blue-green or silver-blue forms (Blue Arrow, Skyrocket): in ten years they reach roughly four…
Lychnis coronaria 80 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
Above rosettes of silver-grey, felted leaves it opens vivid magenta (in some forms white) flowers on branching grey stems in early summer. It is…
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…
Muhlenbergia reverchonii 60 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A clump-forming warm-season grass with hair-fine leaves that turns into a pink cloud of flowers in autumn and keeps a good shape through winter. It is…
Perovskia atriplicifolia 1.2 m × 1 m after 10 years
A subshrub with silvery, aromatic foliage that carries a haze of lavender-blue flowers from midsummer into autumn and is very popular with bees. It…
Hippophae rhamnoides 3 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
A large thorny shrub with silvery, willow-like leaves whose orange, very sour, vitamin C rich berries ripen in autumn and stay decorative into winter.…
Limonium latifolium 70 cm × 70 cm after 10 years
From a rosette of broad, leathery leaves it sends up wiry, much-branched stems in midsummer that carry a cloud of tiny lavender-blue flowers,…
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…
Quercus petraea 5 m × 3 m after 10 years
A native tree and the main oak of hill and mountain forests: slow to get going but living for several hundred years, a giant that reaches 20 to 40 m…
Sedum 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…
Caragana arborescens 3.5 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
An extremely cold-hardy and drought-tolerant upright large shrub or small tree that copes where others give up: on poor, sandy or limy soil in…
Tilia tomentosa 7 m × 4 m after 10 years
Silver lime is a large shade tree with a regular crown; its leaves are dark green above and felted silvery white beneath, so the canopy shimmers in…
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…
Cotinus coggygria 3 m × 3 m after 10 years
A large, spreading deciduous shrub known for the smoke-like, pinkish, fluffy plumes it carries in summer and for its yellow, orange and purple-red…
Cerastium tomentosum 20 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low, mat-forming ground cover with silvery, woolly leaves that disappears under a sheet of white flowers in late spring and early summer. It suits…
Saponaria officinalis 70 cm × 1 m after 10 years
An old cottage-garden perennial with pale pink or white flowers from midsummer into autumn that are strongly scented in the evening and draw moths. It…
Diervilla sessilifolia 1.2 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A low, tough deciduous shrub that spreads slowly by suckers and grows in almost any soil, taking drought and even dry shade under trees, so it is…
Tamarix tetrandra 3 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
A loose shrub with arching, almost black stems and tiny scale-like leaves, covered along their whole length in pale pink flower sprays in late…
Lychnis viscaria 40 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
A native wildflower that sends up spikes of vivid magenta-pink flowers in May and June from tufts of grass-like leaves; the stems are sticky below the…
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…
Oenothera fruticosa 50 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
An easy, sun-loving perennial whose bright yellow, four-petalled flowers open by day, unlike most evening primroses, and follow each other for…
Cotoneaster × suecicus 50 cm × 2 m after 10 years
A low, densely spreading evergreen shrub whose trailing shoots root where they touch the soil, so within a few years it knits into a…
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…
Inula ensifolia 30 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low, dense, dome-shaped perennial with narrow sword-like leaves, covered for weeks in summer with golden yellow daisies. It suits sunny, dry, even…
Tamarix ramosissima 3 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
An airy shrub with tiny scale-like leaves and pink flower plumes over a long period in summer. It copes with drought, heat, poor sandy and salty soil,…
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…
Acer tataricum 3.5 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
A tough native small tree or large multi-stemmed shrub with a rounded crown and unlobed, toothed leaves that fits into small gardens too.…
Cupressus sempervirens 'Totem' 3.5 m × 50 cm after 10 years
An extremely slim, dark green form of the Mediterranean cypress that needs hardly any ground yet instantly gives a garden a southern feel. It wants…
Campsis radicans 7 m × 3 m after 10 years
A very vigorous deciduous climber that clings to walls, fences and tree trunks with aerial roots and carries clusters of orange-red trumpet flowers…
Quercus cerris 6 m × 3.5 m after 10 years
A large oak with a broad crown, dark green leathery lobed leaves and distinctive acorns in shaggy, mossy cups. It is one of the most heat and…
Corylus colurna 6 m × 3.5 m after 10 years
A straight-trunked tree with a regular, cone-shaped crown and dense shade that takes drought, heat and city air well, which makes it a popular…
Phlomis russeliana 90 cm × 75 cm after 10 years
Turkish sage makes a dense, weed-suppressing carpet of large, heart-shaped, felted leaves, and in summer its stiff stems carry tiers of soft yellow…
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…
Yucca flaccida 1.4 m × 1.1 m after 10 years
A stemless evergreen yucca whose sword-shaped leaves are thinner and softer than those of Adam's needle: the outer leaves bend down in the middle,…
Buddleja × weyeriana 2.5 m × 2 m after 10 years
A vigorous, arching butterfly bush that swaps the usual purple for yellow, apricot or yellow and lilac scented flowers packed into ball-shaped…
Sorbus aria 5 m × 3 m after 10 years
A native small tree with a dense, rounded crown whose oval leaves are dark green above and white-felted beneath, so the whole crown flashes silver…
Morus alba 6 m × 5 m after 10 years
A fast-growing, tough, wide-crowned tree that copes with heat, drought, chalky soil and city air, and in early summer drops sweet white, pink or…
Sedum album 10 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
An evergreen succulent whose tiny cylindrical leaves knit into a low, dense mat that disappears under a haze of white flowers in early summer. It is a…
Ligustrum vulgare 3 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
Wild privet is a native, undemanding and very drought-tolerant shrub and the classic material for a clipped hedge: it grows fast, takes any amount…
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.…
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…
Euphorbia amygdaloides 60 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
An evergreen woodland perennial with dark green or purple-flushed rosettes and long-lasting lime-green flower heads in spring. It is one of the best…
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…
Besides the cookies the site needs to work, we would like to use analytics and advertising cookies (Google, Facebook), if you allow it. Details